Day #9: Abandoned at home in No Where Land and Professions at the end of the Pandemic...
28th March 2020: Since 2 days now and more since the last 24 hours even as Indian medical records jumped the highest no. of cases in a single day and everyone accepted that Indian case of Covid-19 infected just went into the next phase, our visual screens are crowded with one of the largest congregation of migrant labourers making their way back from large cities towards their villages, with no transportation being available. Hundreds of thousands of them are stranded and many have been already walking for couple of days since the lockdown, going from the industrial and commercial capitals that has abandoned them towards their villages many of which don't want them for fear that they are bringing the virus from the city into the village.
In one of the most horrible visuals, there was a group of people, having walked for a day or more, reaching the border of their native state only to be turned away in the middle of the night because the state had sealed its borders for people from outside to enter. They don't have any other option but to walk back to the city that had already abandoned them. What kind of a society and a Nation State handles its poor with such utter callousness? what statement does it make of us as a civil society? what does it say of our commercial centres and industries that abandoned their labour force at the first available opportunity?
These are serious questions. THE GOVERNMENT TAKING CARE OF THE LABOURERS TODAY IS NOTHING SHORT OF FURTHER SUBSIDIZING THESE INHUMAN INDUSTRIES. Such industries need to have their licenses cancelled and sealed after the pandemic for lacking in humane quality and the leaders of these industries sent to B-School camps for month long 'correction' lessons on BUSINESS ETHICS.
But the question to be asked is also, where will these labourers go after the pandemic phenomena is over? would they take a bus / train back to the same industry for a job? many of them are likely to do so because they don't know what else to do. Most of these are people that may not have access to land or any resources back in their native place. THE GOVERNMENT AND CIVIL SOCIETY HAS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO RADICALLY ALTER THE ECONOMY TODAY. That which needs to be done is fulfillment of the promise of Budhaan movement - land re-distribution in the villages. If Panchayats across the country are given the task of redistributing the land that is lying fallow and / or unused in the villages to those who return abandoned, perhaps there is a case for creating a new form of rural economy that is possible.
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Many professionals are asking the question, “What do I do at the end of the Pandemic?”, I feel it is the wrong question. When you ask the question of what do I do, you are asking whether status quo will continue. Status quo is not what we are returning to at the end of it, or hope not to. For the sake of the birds and animals that are happy just now and the water and air that has become cleaner, we cannot return to the destructive model of the world economy and call it ‘returning to normal’, No. THAT WAS NEVER THE NORMAL TO BEGIN WITH.
In one of the most horrible visuals, there was a group of people, having walked for a day or more, reaching the border of their native state only to be turned away in the middle of the night because the state had sealed its borders for people from outside to enter. They don't have any other option but to walk back to the city that had already abandoned them. What kind of a society and a Nation State handles its poor with such utter callousness? what statement does it make of us as a civil society? what does it say of our commercial centres and industries that abandoned their labour force at the first available opportunity?
These are serious questions. THE GOVERNMENT TAKING CARE OF THE LABOURERS TODAY IS NOTHING SHORT OF FURTHER SUBSIDIZING THESE INHUMAN INDUSTRIES. Such industries need to have their licenses cancelled and sealed after the pandemic for lacking in humane quality and the leaders of these industries sent to B-School camps for month long 'correction' lessons on BUSINESS ETHICS.
But the question to be asked is also, where will these labourers go after the pandemic phenomena is over? would they take a bus / train back to the same industry for a job? many of them are likely to do so because they don't know what else to do. Most of these are people that may not have access to land or any resources back in their native place. THE GOVERNMENT AND CIVIL SOCIETY HAS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO RADICALLY ALTER THE ECONOMY TODAY. That which needs to be done is fulfillment of the promise of Budhaan movement - land re-distribution in the villages. If Panchayats across the country are given the task of redistributing the land that is lying fallow and / or unused in the villages to those who return abandoned, perhaps there is a case for creating a new form of rural economy that is possible.
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| GoI idea of work from home actually says, "avoid family during working hours"! |
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Many professionals are asking the question, “What do I do at the end of the Pandemic?”, I feel it is the wrong question. When you ask the question of what do I do, you are asking whether status quo will continue. Status quo is not what we are returning to at the end of it, or hope not to. For the sake of the birds and animals that are happy just now and the water and air that has become cleaner, we cannot return to the destructive model of the world economy and call it ‘returning to normal’, No. THAT WAS NEVER THE NORMAL TO BEGIN WITH.
The question to ask is, what skills do you have
today that is still relevant at the end of the pandemic and if these skills are
not relevant, are these other skills that you can learn during the lock down
time. For instance, will a software programmer writing code for a far away bank to administer its services on mobile devices consider such a profession has having provided any skills to survive the pandemic? I guess not.
Health has proven to be the only wealth, sustaining the relationship with family and immediate neighbourhood the only one which can give security, knowledge of growing and having nutritious food as the only one worth knowing, capacity to stay calm and unperturbed under difficult circumstances as the only way of achieving peace. Careers that don't nurture or support any of these are not worthwhile of human pursuit. People everywhere need to reflect on these things currently. I intend to write more on this soon.
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Such industries need to have their licenses cancelled and sealed after the pandemic for lacking in humane quality and the leaders of these industries sent to B-School camps for month long 'correction' lessons on BUSINESS ETHICS- Well said sir
ReplyDeleteThis evening I happened to speak to one of my friend who takes care of export garments business in Karur along with her father. I was asking how did you handled your migration workers from Northern part of the country. She responded that they were asked to leave to their hometowns immediately after the TN govt declared 144 from next day evening. She now had no clue where they are and doesn't seem to have any guilt for sending them forcefully, knowing there won't be any transportation facilities available. Don't they understand, one of the successful factor for running their business so far was also because of these hard working migratory labourers.
Saddest part is she holds a MBA degree from a reputed Institute of TN.