By M L Satyan

Bengaluru, March 25, 2020: A big shock was waiting for the people of India on March 24 evening. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced about the “National Total Lockdown” from the midnight of March 24 to April 14.

Modi in his 26-minute speech mentioned about the allocation of 150 billion rupees to be spent only for the medical sector for the purchase of new equipments and to improve the existing health system. He never mentioned welfare measures for the economically backward people, malnourished children and senior citizens belonging to middle and lower middle class.

On March 23 evening I interacted with two push cart vendors – a woman selling vegetables and a man selling fruits in my area. I knew both of them. I asked the woman about how her business was going. She was almost crying, “Sir, for the past one week the business is quite dull. I have not been able to repay the money-lender. I feel like committing suicide.”

The fruit seller also was quite dull and said, “If this situation continues like this, then, I will close my business, go back to my village in Tamil Nadu and take up daily-wage labour work (agriculture or construction sector)”.

The marginal farmers produce food grains, vegetables, fruits and flowers. They all have taken loan from the local banks. Now they are not getting the expected price for their products. This forces them to become ‘defaulters of loan’. We can soon expect many more farmers committing suicide.

Look at the senior citizens without any pension depending upon their small savings. Many do part-time work (office or field work) to earn a meager income. I am included in this category. This month I had to go for field work. Now there is no field work due to national lockdown and hence there is no income. What will happen to senior citizens like me if they remain at home?

The auto drivers, the cycle rickshaw pullers, the porters at the railway stations have nothing to do now. Quite many of them are already into a ‘depression mode’ and some may try to commit suicide.

To our consolation governments of Delhi, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh have announced some welfare measures for the labor class. God alone knows how much of it will reach the needy.

Modi in his speech said repeatedly “Stay at home! Stay at home! Do not cross the Lakshman Rekha” (a strict convention or a rule, never to be broken.)

He also said that the doctors, nurses and paramedical staff will work round the clock. He announced that banks, ATMs and medical shops will be open and all the grocery items, milk, vegetables and fruits will be available. Here a few ‘sensible questions’ need to be raised:

1) If the doctors, nurses, paramedical staff will work and the medical shops be opened, then, they all have to get out of their homes. Will they not cross the lakshman rekha?
2) If banks and ATMs will function, then, the bank staffs have to go out of their homes. Will they not cross the lakshman rekha?
3) If the groceries, milk, vegetables and fruits have to be made available, then, the wholesalers, the distributors, the retailers and the pushcart vendors have to get out of their homes. Will they not cross the lakshman rekha?
4) If the above services are available, then, the customers have to go to them to buy. Will they not cross the lakshman rekha?
5) There are millions of households in India that do not have ‘running water’ facility. They go out to public wells or taps to collect drinking water. Will they not cross the lakshman rekha?
6) Again, there are crores of households in India without toilets. They go out for their natural calls. Will they not cross the lakshman rekha?
7) Many house maids in the urban areas work 5 to 6 houses in a day. These houses may not be in the same area but located in different areas. They have to get out of their homes to work in these 5 to 6 houses. Will they not cross the lakshman rekha?
8) On March 25 Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath Yogi went with his followers to Ayodhya and offered Navratri Pooja. A big crowd was seen in the temple. Did he not cross the lakshman rekha?

To me, Modi’s speech sounded meaningless preaching (bakwas). He and his government pretend to be concerned about the spread of Coronavirus. The government is not telling the people the real truth about the actual situation. It is my personal view that the politicians are misleading the common people.

Even when Modi announced the one-day Janta Curfew for March 22 he did not think of the needy people.

On March 24, the Hindu newspaper said, “There is no definite step coming from the central government on giving financial and economic aid to relieve the hardship of the most affected daily wage earners, the old people etc. Compare this to the response the government gave to the needs of the corporate companies to help them to overcome economic slowdown. The government took away the huge surplus profile made by RBI. No one knows how the government has used it. Nirmala Sitaraman waived off huge amount of tax on capital to benefit the corporate and big business. To quote a reputed scholar from abroad, some politicians have remarked, “The virus kills mostly the old, the ill and undernourished poor. And we do not really care whether such economically unproductive people live or die.”

The ‘national lockdown’ may be extended even after 21 days. We never know. Whether people die of Coronavirus or not, many children and people belonging to socially and economically backward communities will die of “hunger” in India. Why? They will be forced to cross the Lakshman Rekha. This is bound to happen in the near future.

(M L Satyan is a Bengaluru-based freelance journalist.)