Special sanitised trains and buses may be operated for migrants

                         

  Extension of lockdown till 3^rd May was not unexpected yet some miscreants are out to provoke innocent people at some places to discredit the government.  They need to be sternly dealt with. Having said so, it was also expected that the Prime Minister would make certain announcements regarding relaxation to small industrial and business activities. It is now presumed that it has been left to the state governments to firstly take stock of the situation and decide about the appropriate action while strictly complying with the lockdown.

  There is no doubt that the governments have been making arrangements for the free food and shelter to a large number of poor people but that is not only inadequate but demeaning as well. Living on free foods is against self-respect and human dignity. In fact, it is like a war between ' life versus life'. We can certainly save the lives of the people by strict observance of the lockdown but how can we save the lives of the people dying of starvation unless they are allowed to earn their livelihood? In fact, people have, many times, given more importance to livelihood than to life, as they say, that ‘bina jeevika ke Jeevan vyarth’ i.e.  ‘Life sans livelihood is meaningless’.

    My younger brother Harinand is a hotelier in Azamgarh district of eastern Uttar Pradesh and he tells me that due to lockdown, the business activities, particularly in the hospitality and transport sectors are the worst hit.  Hotels, roadside eateries, and restaurants have come to a grinding halt creating enormous problems to their owners and workers. They do not have enough cushion money to sustain for any longer. Another big problem that has arisen for the farmers because of the harvesting season. It has, in turn, posed the serious problem of ‘supply chain’ of essential commodities because neither trucks nor other modes of transport are available on the roads.

   The government will, therefore, have to give serious thought over this unforeseen monumental crisis. Farmers and small-time businesspersons are now caught between ‘devil and deep-sea’. Moreover, if our people stranded in many countries were brought by special planes to India,  why can’t some special sanitised trains and buses be operated for migrant workers to take them to respective villages and native places? This will help them in having much-needed psychological security.