Coronavirus is haunting the world. Lakhs of lives have been lost. Many of us have the privilege of working or studying from home. Meanwhile, thousands of people are dying of hunger.
Let’s keep our privilege aside for a moment and think about the people who are actually suffering.
They have no roof over their heads, empty stomach, and no money in their hands. They are undertaking a gruelling journey on foot to reach their homes, wearing torn clothes and slippers, while holding their children for hours—even when there is no guarantee that they will be able to reach their homes.
Let’s forget about our smart phones and internet access.
These people are not educated. They don’t have the money to buy even basic commodities. These people don’t know what exactly Coronavirus is, or what its symptoms are. These people are tired of listening from government officials—ghabraane ki koi baat nahi hai, hum ne sab ke liye intezaam kiye hain (There is no need to worry, we have made arrangements for all).
Due to the sudden lockdown and widespread panic, many daily wage workers decided to return to their villages with no jobs left in the city. Several reports suggest that at least 50 people have lost their lives and many were injured in this migration.
We have a roof over our heads, three fixed meals, and are fortunate enough to sit back at home and spend time with our family.
A lot of money has been collected by the PM relief fund until now. The question arises—when is the government going to use this fund?
In our country, majority of the population is engaged in the informal sector—there are masons, fruits and vegetable vendors, etc. These are daily wage earners and don’t have savings. These are people with no social security and no option of missing work.
How is the government going to contact them? How will they receive the money? Will they have to stand in long queues outside banks and government offices?
There are women living with their abusers. There is no escape for them. As per the Press Trust of India reports, “The number of such cases have been increased. Men are frustrated sitting at home and are taking out that frustration on women”.
It’s high time we accept that our government is not prepared to cope with the situation. We need to accept that we are facing a shortage of protective health supplies such as masks, gloves and coveralls, known as Personal Protective Equipment(PPE). Clanging plates or switching off lights will not kill the virus.
The ground reality is far different and very disastrous.
Lockdown was the need of the hour; announcing it just four hours before imposing was really not a good decision.
There might be two reasons for this sudden lockdown:
- Our government thinks that we are a powerful nation in terms of health, medical facilities and wealth. There are very less number of poor in our country. Everyone is educated. Everyone will be able to cope with the situation. So, everyone should stay home and relax.
- The other reason might be that we have become so used to this dictatorship. We are always ready for every decision imposed by the government. Poor people will too have to accept this because they don’t have another option.
How can we abandon millions of poor while government is busy airlifting Indians from other countries?
There are so many vegetable and fruit vendors roaming in the colonies in the scorching heat, so that they can earn something. This doesn’t show that they aren’t afraid to die.
Now, they know that nobody cares about them. The fear of hunger will kill them before the virus.