It was a week before the lock-down when one of the leaders of the opposition, Rahul Gandhi foretold a tsunami disaster is about to sink India as he pressed for strong measures when the Coronavirus began its man-hunt in the rest of the world. As it unfurls that the effects of the virus on human lives is far wide-reaching than expected, the weak and the socially backward are now facing grime realities of life including deaths by starvation.
Hunger deaths are only nominal- counting to just two in Muzaffarpur of Bihar, a figure frail for authorities trying to scramble its resources for fighting the Coronavirus more concerned in keeping their political beauty intact. But it is a fact that unregistered daily bread earners which are a large chunk of Indian unorganized labors will feel the fire in their hearts as the family starves to death. In the above-reported case both the boys starved to death as their parents could not earn much to fill their bellies during lock-down.
The Adecco Group India, a staffing company, has mapped the impact of Covid-19 spread across employment in some Indian industries. It said about nine million jobs can be reduced across the manufacturing clusters of textiles, capital goods, cement, food products, metals, plastics, rubber, and electronics. Adecco estimated that the automobile industry can lose up to a million jobs in the dealer ecosystem, front-line roles, and the semi-skilled. Around 600,000 ground and support roles on contract in the aviation industry are at risk.
“The implications of this crisis will be dire. We will inevitably have less fiscal space to make much-needed investments in, for example, education, skills, preventative healthcare, and infrastructure. This will not just prevent us from moving forward but will set us back. Our large and growing youth population will be further disenfranchised, potentially spurring social discord, crime, and instability,” Sabina Dewan, the president and executive director of JustJobs Network, a think tank said.
The Coronavirus is a grit stuck in the cogwheels of each and every trade in India. If the contagion is not curbed with corrective actions after a lethargic start by the Indian government, the Coronavirus will kill more with hunger and panic than choking the breath of its victims.
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