A deadly CORONAVIRUS was born and named as COVID-19, a pandemic disease (CORONAVIRUS DISEASE OF – 2019). COVID-19 turned into a calamity, and the entire world is facing serious and several crises. The novel coronavirus pandemic has resulted in an unimaginable loss to the global economy and the losing human lives have been unprecedented in an era of global peace. The virus knows no region, religion, caste, creed, age, rich, poor, spiritual leaders, etc, that attacks and kills every human being. Out of 210 Coronavirus affected countries, only India enforced one of the strongest lockdowns at an early phase spread of Coronavirus, that COVID-19 is witnessing. The lockdown is the saddest period, that India has ever seen. It has sickened both the rich and the poor.

The lockdown was the only solution for India, that enforced, and has shifted constantly to break the chain of transmission of the Coronavirus. The lockdown in India is more disastrous for human welfare, and economics. “ From the economy’s point of view, the lockdown undoubtedly looks costly, but compared to the lives of Indian citizens, it is nothing” (translation, original in Hindi), said the Prime minister. Lockdown is also its own crisis, and the coronavirus hits us all. The government of India, going by its actions since the lockdown, seems to say that it absolves itself the responsibility and leaves to its citizen the responsibility of handling the situation, and failing which they will get punishment even if it means losing jobs, rights, livelihood, dignity, food and education. Due to the lockdown India plagued by many crises that this essay offers to explain.

During the lockdown, all transport services, industries, factories, shopping malls, salon, liquor shops, hotels, restaurants are shutdown and suspended (only vegetable vendors, medicine stores and grocery stores are an exception). Movement of the people all over India prohibited, and asked to stay at home.

Read also – Untouchability In The Times Of Corona

The lockdown caused tragic consequences to the people of India for which a humanitarian and other crisis cropped up. Millions of migrant workers, daily labourers, and daily wage-earners have lost their jobs since the lockdown started. Others, particularly in service sectors, have been furloughed and forced to stay at home without means of livelihood. Most of them come of the scheduled caste, the scheduled tribes and the other backward classes (SC, ST and OBC), making up more than 70% of the population of India. Indeed, including farmers, they are the workforce, poor and under below poverty line, and the backbone of the nation. This deprived and neglected sections of the society are really victimized, abused and exploited in a myriad of ways. During the lockdown, they need work as a pathway out of poverty and hunger. For 72 years of independence, all Indian governments have tried to manage poverty and not succeeded much in offering people a path way out of poverty. Garibi hatao is remaining in the slogan only till today.

Unemployment situation due to the lockdown in India is depressing. The socio-economic consequences of unemployment are dangerous. It leads to poverty, slow rate of economic growth, and a general restlessness in the society. The crisis of unemployment demands an immediate solution because it threatens the peace, prosperity, and stability of the country. The government can give them free food grains from its warehouses but cannot create enough jobs for them.

On 26th. March 2020, the government of India announced a relief package of around Rs. 1.7 lakhs Crore to provide food and cash transfer to the poor and the people in a vulnerable position.

There is no end to the migrants’ woes. India has crore of inter-state migrants. There has been a broad division between the state in India that poor states (send out-migrants) and rich states (that host the migrants). Due to impact of the lockdown and shutdown, the rich states want migrants to send back home, the home states (poor states) themselves are reluctant to receive them, bearing that this movement of migrants would escalate the spread of Coronavirus. Some states argued that keeping migrants in their states would cause social unrest. The migrant workers seem stuck in limbo. They become jobless, shelterless, foodless, and are fatally hurt. They had run out of money and were afraid they would starve with family members, and therefore they are desperately trying to return home in their own states even on boot.

A freight train in India’s western Maharashtra State’s Aurangabad district ran over and killed at least 14 homebound migrant workers, who reportedly fell asleep on the tracks due to exhaustion. What a tragedy!

Read also – Corona Virus vs Caste Virus; Caste Hindus Justifying Untouchability In The Times Of Corona

Hunger is the most effective disease. The potent vaccine for hunger is not a free supply of grains and pulses, but sustainable employment. The coronavirus pandemic lockdown has brought hunger to millions of people across the country. Because national lockdown and social distancing measures are drying up work and income. The migrant workers, daily labourers, daily wage earners, poor and workers are now going hungry and facing the prospect of starving. The government some individuals and many humanitarian organizations are distributing food to people, but it is not enough. Downtrodden people say “We have to survive, we are running away from the corona virus, but lack of food must not kill us, we must not go hungry”. Thousands of them are lining up twice a day for bread and fried vegetables to keep hunger at bay.

Really, the rich are afraid of the coronavirus, and the poor are afraid of hunger. The poor fear that if they stay at home, the hunger virus will kill them. The rich fear that if they come out of home, the coronavirus will kill them. What an awkward situation!

During the lockdown, health care is one of the greatest challenges for the government. Soon after enforcement of the lockdown, the Prime minister announced around Rs. 15,000 Crore fund for the health care sector. Prior to the lockdown, India finds itself in an acute health care crisis. It lacks adequate medical equipment to tackle the epidemic. The entire health care infrastructure in India is inadequate for over 1.3 billion population. During the lockdown, India does not have health care infrastructure to support the coronavirus affected patients on a large scale and to put them under treatment and quarantine home. More personal protection types of equipment (PPE) are required for frontline health personnel- Doctors, Nurses, Sanitary Workers, and Paramedics. Physical distancing is the burden of COVID-19 on the health care system and can reduce the risk of mortality among high-risk patients. India has a high burden of patients of diabetes, hypertension, kidney, heart, leprosy, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, etc. Those patients with uncontrolled are at risk for the complication of COVID-19 infection and the lockdown. While it is good to boost the morale of health personnel by thali bajao, tali bajao, shankha bajao, dian jalao, these are at best symbolic gestures, but can not make up the lack of personal protective equipment (PPE), testing kits or basic facilities, that our health care system badly needs, and the coronavirus can also be driven out.

During the lockdown, it was not possible to pick up the medicines for the patients at high risk. Most of the patients reduced their medicines to half of the prescribed dose as they could not travel to the medicine stores/ clinics. It worsens access to mental health care. However the government of India is promoting telemedicine as a means of providing health services during lockdown only in urban areas, but people of rural areas without access to public transport, travelling to hospitals/clinics is nearly impossible to have medicines and health service, for which they are suffering a lot during the lockdown. Experts say- the disquiet and anxieties caused by the coronavirus pandemic, and the consequent lockdown in itself could be a cause for a spike in mental disorder.

India’s economic growth, which has already been slowing, has been hit hard by the coronavirus lockdown. Because many companies, industries, and factories in India have temporarily suspended or significantly reduced operation. The national economy was expected to lose over Rs. 32,000 crores every day during the lockdown. The small business owners are particularly at risk and halt in economic activity. Economic development gives birth to an individual. It has affected both men and women. Millions of workers those in informal sectors, and daily wage groups have been laid off. India is a poor and underdeveloped country. The impact of lockdown has already taken a heavy toll on the economy. There is chaos among the public when they heard, the government of India waived over Rs. 68,000 crores of the bank loan defaulters, when there is a deepening economic recession in India.

The basic industry of India is agriculture. Agriculture in India the principal occupation in the countryside is, by nature a seasonal occupation. During the lockdown, a large number of farmers around the country who grow perishables and other crops, are also facing uncertainty and at risk. They failed to harvest and supply their crops. They are worst affected by the lockdown and could also struggle in the new planning season to get quality seeds and fertilizers. But the government has not yet announced a relief package for farmers’ agriculture. It is to be noted, that in 2012, and again in 2016, there were crop failures in certain regions of India. The number of farmers suicides was around 12,000 each time.

COVID-19 has brought a new phrase to the people of India – ‘ Social distancing’. Social distancing is the social evil of untouchability, which has caused great damage to the Indian religion and culture. A lockdown is the most extreme version of social distancing since it is government-mandated. The ‘Social distancing’ practice is used to perpetuate the inhumane system of division which could have been removed by a phrase to the people of India – “ Physical distance”.

COVID-19 pandemic triggers crisis and chance at redemption for India’s news media industry, which has been hit hard by the unprecedented economic standstill. There are 900 television channels, and over 1,18,000 both newspapers and periodicals in India. Advertisements- both from the industry as well as governments- are still the biggest revenue sources for media houses. Only because of the advertisements, the print media takes the biggest blow. It is concern that during the lockdown instead of spreading the message of love and unity, some media fuel tension and spread fake news and rumours, that a particular religion or community is the cause for the spread of the virus.

Inside the world’s largest COVID-19 lockdown there are no flights, no passenger trains, no buses, no taxies, and functioning of industries, companies, factories, markets, shops places of worship are shut down, but one thing is remarkably abundant, the coronavirus brings blue skies and clean air not only to India but also to the whole world and reduces levels of pollution.

India’s national lockdown is coming to an end, but the lockdown has not killed the coronavirus, it may never go away, and COVID-19 could be around for a long time. We will have to learn to live with COVID-19 possibly until further period. The real war of India will begin, after the COVID-19 lockdown gets over.

At this critical juncture, India still has a long way to go in order to call a truly developed nation and to have a dream to be a Biswaguru.

Author – Kapilendra Das, Educationist and Social Activist