Get down to business

The exodus of migrant workers in the wake of the lockdown has given rise to concerns. Many states are unable to stem the tide. While Himachal Pradesh took the lead by sealing its borders, leaving even many of its own residents stranded, Uttar Pradesh provided buses to ferry the migrant workers leaving Delhi, even as Bihar and Haryana urged their residents to stay put. Before the police sealed the Anand Vihar bus terminal in Delhi, the place had been teeming with those facing an existential dilemma. The Centre has now issued an advisory to curb the free movement of the people and set up 14-day quarantine at government facilities for all those arriving. Haryana has banned even intra-state migration to tackle the pandemic. But the visuals on TV of migrant workers being showered with a disinfectant at Bareilly raise questions over the empathy and effectiveness of the government. The states have also been asked to ensure timely payment of wages to labourers at their places of work without any cut and make use of the State Disaster Relief Fund.

The lockdown was to prevent the community transmission of the disease, but what has actually happened is that entire communities are now out on the roads. Rigorous cluster confinement will call for some economic activity at the basic level to ensure viability. Already, essential services are being allowed to operate with parcel trains and cargo planes ferrying goods. But more will have to be thought of so as to provide for a standstill population with economic activity ceasing. Punjab has ordered all milk plants to operate and industrial units to commence operations with migrants if they have the provision to accommodate them. The private sector should also make efforts to emulate the government to alleviate the misery of the labourers.

Estimates say nearly a quarter of the micro, small and medium enterprises — which employ over 100 million people — may shut if the lockdown extends beyond four weeks. The economic crisis will need firm tackling like the health crisis.