Page 20 - NewsLetter Vol 2 Issue May 2020.cdr

Save life or livelihood –
a dilemma before the

Government:

s we say, extraordinary situation calls for extraordinary
measures, the Indian government's decision to
Aannounce a complete lockdown in the country was a
perfect example of this. When the positive cases of Covid-19
started to get momentum, the govt took an unprecedented
step to announce a countrywide lock-down effective till 14th
April which has further been extended till May 3. The idea was
to break the chain and contain the spread of virus which was
getting ominous. As far as the effectiveness of this step is
ु
concerned, the govt has been quite successful in containing कछ हताश म ,
the spread of virus. If we compare the situation of India with एक मिश द क तलाश म ।
ु
other countries, India has been cut above the rest in
containing the spread. Lately, the rate of spread has also
ू
come down signicantly. But all this has come at a cost. The मील तक यँही चलना,
already slowing economy which had shown some signs of उस सम क ललाट पे।
ु
revival has further moved into deep crisis. Almost all the
economic activity has come to a standstill since the lock-
ु
down was announced. Businesses had no option but to shut कछ सवाल क े जवाब म ,
down operations. Owing to the businesses shutting down कछ जवाब क े सवाल म ।
ु
operations, there is spectre of impending unemployment
crisis in the country. The country was already grappling with
the issue of unemployment and this lock-down is expected to कभी िकसी बवाल म ,
make the situation worse. The signs of this imminent crisis are कभी िकसी याल म ।
already visible. Companies have started laying-off employees
as the top line has taken a hit. But there is a particular group of
people who has been severely affected by this lock-down i.e. कभी जीत म , कभी हार म ,
daily-wage earners. These are the people who have nothing in कभी िदन म , कभी रात म ।
the name of savings. They are hardly able to meet the both
ends meet. Thus, this lock-down has proved to be a nightmare
for them. The stock market which is known as the pulse of the बस एक चाह क े साथ,
economy is on a freefall since the lockdown was announced.
क े िमल जाए िकसी मिश द का हाथ।
ु
Now, here is a dilemma before the govt to save life or
livelihood. If lock-down was indispensable in containing the िदखला पाए जो इस दिनया क े पार,
ु
virus, resumption of economic activity is equally important to
ensure the livelihood of the people. As the rate of spread has िसखला जाए जो करना सबसे यार,
come down and people are aware of the benets of social
distancing, it is time for the government to allow some हो िजसे इस दिनया क े परे का भी ात,
ु
economic activity in the country. The permission to start these
ु
activities should be given only with strict guidelines regarding िमलवा जाए जो मेरा उस दिनया से भी हाथ।
social distancing and certain terms and conditions. And the
violators of lock-down must be strictly punished in order to ह ै िकसी ऐसे मिश द क तलाश,
ु
pre-empt community transfer. The government has already
ु
announced that it will allow some economic activity in the ह ै िकसी ऐसे मिश द क तलाश।।
country in a phased manner starting April 20 with certain
guidelines. The challenge before the government is to revive
the economy and contain the spread of virus simultaneously.
It will be interesting to see how it does the balancing act by Anuj Suneja
between the two. PGP (2019-21)
by Md Mukarram Hussain
PGP (2019-21)

Editors
Prof. Chandreie Mukherjee
Prof. M V Anuradha

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