The 20-lakh crore stimulus package of the Indian government has been a non-starter. Indian industrialist Rahul Bajaj has called the stimulus package convoluted -going round and round with no beginning and no end.  The Communist Party of India calls it a hoax. Non-BJP party-led state governments are screaming for relief and support.  In four days since the announcement, the committed BJP-aligned businessmen and industrialists have felt a rude shock. This WSN editorial lays bare the emptiness of the much-touted giant stimulus package, which is nothing but a loan package with the sugar coating of self-reliance. A bitter pill impossible to swallow!

THE POOREST OF THE POOR -THE VOTE BANK OF MANY PARTIES -on the periphery of towns and cities, labour in factories and agricultural fields have been left to fend for itself, with even the Supreme Court of India unwilling to hear their plea, is walking back home in the face of no succour, no cash, no transport and no food.

Corruption and obfuscation of data of food distribution have been at an all-time high as it happens in pandemics and epidemics. The best and worst of humankind is coming to the fore. India may have restricted the number of those who have died of COVID-19, but the misery of poverty is heart-rending.

The dynamics of manufacturing, trade and transport industry is changing. Agriculture and the unorganised sector will never be the same for quite some time. The Narendra Modi government is serving platitudes, slogans of self-reliance, offering more loans and absolutely no tangible relief, while the economy and people are going to the dogs,

This is what disasters are made up of. Is the Bharatiya Janata Party government fooling the people of India or has it run of ideas or both?

Fake news of social media is becoming increasingly difficult to fathom and identify. How does one contest the peddling of lies, subterfuge and jugglery of facts and figures by the government of India?

The economics of remittance of hard-earned money, which has been the backbone of the rural economy in many parts of India is totally shaken, remittance from overseas to families like in Punjab has hit an all-time low, as the countries face the onslaught of the pandemic.

Fake news of social media is becoming increasingly difficult to fathom and identify. How does one contest the peddling of lies, subterfuge and jugglery of facts and figures by the government of India?

In clear complicity between the state and the powerful lobby of industrialist, the labour laws of the country have been thrown to the winds, leaving the labour class at the direct mercy of the factory owners. Nobody wants to speculate the labour unrest and mayhem that could result in the coming times!

With the understandable ever-increasing yearning to be at home with family in a familiar environment, thousands upon thousands are returning home, totally oblivious to the fact as to how and what life has in store for them.

Operating ATMs or paying through cashless methods instead of growing shows signs of decrease as cash-strapped populations are dying to hold cash reserves, howsoever small they are.  From the smallest street vendor to the shops, it requires a lot of convincing to persuade to use cashless methods to buy essential commodities. All processes, in the wake of a financial crunch, seem to be crashing.

In the transport sector -the Highway warriors -the drivers and their assistants are being beaten and harassed at interstate checkpoints and toll barriers. More than 90 per cent have returned home. Instead of a relief package, the government is telling truckers to take more loans. Even common sense would show that this will lead to a debt-trap and the consequences would be disastrous.

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, a court in Italy ruled that stealing bread to satisfy hunger is not a crime. The number of incidents of police personnel, private small businessmen and ordinary people committing suicides unable to bear the turn of events is increasing by the day. The doorbells of social turmoil and individual mental health strain are ringing if you lend an ear. 

In the last four days, there has been no mention of the transport sector, at all.  The transport industry is staring at a crashing halt after receiving a step-motherly treatment from the Indian government knowing fully well that the wheels of the economy run on the wheels of road transport.

Recently, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, a court in Italy ruled that stealing bread to satisfy hunger is not a crime. The number of incidents of police personnel, private small businessmen and ordinary people committing suicides unable to bear the turn of events is increasing by the day. The doorbells of social turmoil and individual mental health strain are ringing if you lend an ear.

Noble-prize winning economist Abhijit Banerjee has said that in order to increase purchasing power, the government must make direct deposits to the poor and the lower middle class. The same has been emphasized by leading industrialist and philanthropist Wipro’s Aziz Premji.

Is anyone listening?

Title Image Courtesy: 9gag.com