The long line of migrant labour walking back home is extremely painful to watch, to say the least. It is easy for the rich and the Haves to denounce these poor people and complain about their return since they are suspected to be carrying the COVID virus back with them. We privileged lot sitting comfortably at home and enjoying life behave as if we are completely unaware of ground realities. This mindset blinds our vision and does not allow us to dispassionately evaluate the reasons for which this working class left home to go out in search of livelihood.
It is appropriate to mention here that COVID-19 is an imported infection. This strain of corona virus did not originate on Indian soil. So, those who are denouncing the poor labourers must first question themselves about how this virus came to India. As earlier mentioned in this column, the government of India has been extremely keen to bring in NRIs ‘stranded’ in countries with high infection incidences. Had we stopped people from being airlifted from Wuhan, Italy, Iran, Malaysia, UK and rest of Europe and now a fresh phase from the Middle East, the situation could have been very different and well controlled. Unfortunately, the top political leaders of this country had other priorities. Their attention was diverted with ‘Namaste Trump’ and a change in the Madhya Pradesh state government. These two events delayed India’s response to the pandemic. Therefore, at the very outset, we can judge the poor migrant labourer and her infected body only after we admit that it is the foreign returned rich who have created the infection amongst the poor.
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The age old desire of the Indian wealthy always choosing own convenience while setting up large industrial establishments may be compelled to take a solid thrashing because of this present spread of the viral disease. It is a common sight to find pristine jungles, beautiful landscapes and virgin areas being destroyed across this sub continent simply for mining and other related industrial activities. However, just like energy, water, road/rail connectivity and other infrastructure that are constantly being created by the government with the tax payers’ money to facilitate the setting up of industries, it is imperative that industrialists as well as governments start equating labour with other important infrastructure inputs. We have been told since long that a nation is created and grows because of its wealth creators. While many of us believed this and even argued in its support, this pandemic has made us aware that wealth creators always need people to work for them. The recent example of the Karnataka government facilitating thousands of workers to return to Bangalore to restart production units at the behest of industrialists is a great example. While capital is of prime importance, manpower too has equal importance. The present crisis has divided this country in many ways. For example, it is now evident to all that while certain parts of the country are industrial production centres, other parts are labour suppliers. The second category hails mostly from states like Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal and North East. Due to a faulty planning that has not changed till date, the government of India has invested more in areas where it has received higher revenues. In other words, our government policy has helped in creating pockets of affluence at the expense of vast numbers of people living in deprivation. One thought could be that, learning a lesson from the pandemic, industrialists and government should make long term plans to move industries nearer to places where labour is locally available. The complaint could be that there is too much lethargy and politics in the eastern part of India whereas other parts of the country have good industrial culture. Those who argue in this vein probably wish to forget that Bombay was created by the British and has a long history of development. The state of Bombay which included present Maharashtra and Gujarat was home not only to the super-rich who licked the boots of the British but also had its initial hiccups in the form of people like Datta Sawant and Balasaheb Thackeray who built their careers with an anti-industry and pro-labour image. Only time brought in the industrial culture in that part of India. If that same exercise could have been done in Bihar or Orissa, it is possible a similar environment could have been created here too. We shall refrain from discussing West Bengal at this juncture.
However, industry can never be the panacea for Odisha’s problems. One is reminded of a recent event when the West Bengal government stopped export of potatoes to Odisha. Price of that vegetable shot up astronomically. The Chief Minister of Odisha personally gave a message to farmers of the state to make Odisha a potato surplus state. That one simple appeal worked wonders. A bumper crop was produced. Unfortunately, there were no cold storages or requisite transport systems which resulted in the produce rotting in the fields. This example demonstrates the ability of Odia farmers to work wonders. What is required is land settlement on a war footing, invigorating the agricultural university activities, easy availability of farm equipment on hire along with improved irrigation and help in processing and marketing of produce. The state government could focus on making Odisha the food bowl for the whole of India. If India does not require our produce, we have the whole world beyond our beaches. If we excel in agriculture, our youth may prefer to work and become rich while living at home. Since the pandemic has shown the strains on the federal structure of India, the post-COVID-19 period may bring about an era where every state could be forced to create self sustenance systems. Some may say that will imply a dismemberment India. Others may prefer an economic model based on division and isolation of states which could bring in better times for the big mass of poor of this country.
