Life After India’s Lockdown

On March 25th, 2020, the Indian government declared a 21-day lockdown to control the outbreak of the Coronavirus. Rather than slowing and stopping transmissions, the strict strategy goes contrary to its wishes. Most citizens complain the lockdown policy is too sudden to prepare, triggering large-scale hunger and unemployment. 

Homeless people and migrant labourers are the most struggling groups. Begum Jan, a 62-year-old housemaid lost her job and fell ill with tuberculosis. Being a longtime wheelchair user, she used to receive food when she appeared at a busy street in Kolkata. However, the COVID-19 related quarantine thoroughly cut off her income. In an interview by the Guardian, she expressed her tough situation: “For the past week, none of these people who usually help me have come in sight. They are all at home because of the lockdown; they don’t have any job and so they cannot help me anymore.” Jan’s misfortune is common among millions of daily-waged workers. Shutting down factories without pay directly jeopardized the lives of those who lack savings. Furthermore, for families who rely solely on one member’s labour, things worsened.

Suspension of public transportation resulted in mass homelessness. The unexpected lockdown left people with insufficient time to get back to their homes. According to a BBC report, after the restrictions, streets around the Indian capital, Delhi, have been filled with people trying to walk their way to their villages in neighbouring states. This journey can be a deadly one, a home delivery boy named Ranveer Singh died in Agra after walking for about 200 km on his way to Morena district in Madhya Pradesh. Such shocking tragedies usually affects the vulnerable first, young children, for example, are appeasing their hunger with grass.

Poverty spreads much faster than the virus. Indian economist Jayoti Ghosh criticized the brutal policy, arguing that it should have been applied with more consideration and planning: “Even if a lockdown is necessary, the government could have arranged a week in advance for people to be able to safely travel back home. What kind of arrogance and insensitivity does a government have to have to give the country four hours.”

The government tries to make up the mistake by announcing a financial-aid package worth $22 billion, creating relief centres and promising to offer two meals per day for those in need. However, the demand is much larger than the supply. The lockdown is disrupting the supply chain and there is a lack of alternative ways to maintain people’s daily life. Hundreds of stranded people are queuing up at relief centres and waiting for a limited amount of food. These gatherings are increasing the infection risk, thus laying more burdens on India’s weak public sanitation system.

Police abuse could be another scandal. Conflicts happen between the police and vendors amid the lockdown. The enemy seems not to be the virus, but the innocent people. To dislodge public gatherings, the police uses a baton to physically harm people. In several short videos, Indian officials can be seen spraying migrant workers with a “chemical solution.” The country’s fight against the pandemic is not guided by medical preparations, but by tears and fear.

India’s government fails to enact the lockdown appropriately. Without concrete economic strategies, it’s hard to maintain the normal operation of society. Former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram commented: “What we expected was a generous livelihood support package for the poor, including for those categories of poor who were totally ignored.” This human crisis reveals a deeper dilemma in India, the huge gap between the rich and the poor. With a shortage of medical resources, the lockdown policy might be accompanied by some cruel and reluctant trade-offs.

‘‘I especially seek your forgiveness, I understand your troubles but there was no other way to wage war against coronavirus…It is a battle of life and death and we have to win it.” Facing increasing criticism, Prime Minister Narendra Modi publicly apologized for the impact of the strict stay-at-home measures. However, the problem is not the lockdown, but the way it is enacted. “I worked well and lived with dignity. Suddenly I have turned homeless and been made a beggar,” said a man who used to work in a roadside tea shop in Kolkata. 

The government will barely pay for the severe consequences of the lockdown. The only thing left is to stop the loss as soon as possible. It is not about saving more lives, but sacrificing less, especially the living conditions and rights of vulnerable groups.

Yuexin Li
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