At the time of typing, the casualties due to the novel
corona virus pandemic have reached 34,806 with 735,041 infected around the
world. The death toll in Italy alone is 10,779, highest anywhere around the
globe. It has already claimed 29 lives in India.
In India, Economists say, the pandemic has already
done more damage to the Indian economy than Demonetization did in more than
three years. In an interview to Karan Thapar, India’s first chief statistician,
Dr Pronab Sen when asked about the severity of crises that may follow the spread
of the virus, did not rule out the possibility of large scale food riots in the
country. If that comes as a surprise, you have just not been paying attention.
Nonetheless, the governments at the centre and in
states are well aware of the destitute conditions more than 400 million of
Indians live under. PM Modi may well share the apprehensions Dr Sen expressed
in his interview. In what may seem to be adequate to some, the Prime Minister
in addition to Chief Ministers across states has announced provisions to tackle
the situation.
The country witnessed migrant workers on the borders
of big cities desperate to reach homes as if announcing the trust deficit in
the governments. CM Yogi, CM Nitish and CM Kejriwal, all appealed to them to stay
but to no avail. The poor don’t trust the government, it was evident. Television
media broadcast around the situation on March 28 was good but short-lived. The
stories of workers walking hundreds of miles vanished without any closure. What
happened to them all?
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