JEAN DRÈZE
Many of them belong to households covered under the public distribution system (PDS), social security pensions and related schemes. But they will find it difficult to survive on the meagre benefits offered by these welfare schemes. The benefits will have to be scaled up and supplemented with interventions like emergency cash transfers and community kitchens. This is important as migrant workers will hesitate to leave their homes again for some time. Besides, very little work will be available for them at home, unless they have land for farming. If the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act can be reactivated soon, with higher wages and a reliable payment system, that will help.
If you discount the creative accounting and windowdressing, the size of the package is closer to `1 lakh crore than `1.7 lakh crore. That’s 0.5 per cent of GDP, or less than what the Centre blew on corporate tax cuts last year at the first sign of an economic slowdown. Implementing relief measures will take time, but meanwhile hunger is spreading. States need immediate support for emergency relief measures like community kitchens and shelters for migrant workers. That’s a gaping hole in the Centre’s package.
There is the possibility of disruptions of the food system related to lockdowns and economic recession. Right now, we are in an odd situation where shortages and surpluses coexist as the supply chain is largely broken. Food inflation is subdued as most are unable to do shopping beyond the bare necessities. But that may change once the lockdown is relaxed. Then those who can afford it are likely to go on a shopping spree. If the supply chain is still in bad shape, there may be localised price spikes, pushing more people to the wall, especially those who are out of work. Events of this sort are likely to continue if periodic lockdowns continue in the next few months. Even after the lockdowns end, the food supply system is likely to suffer for some time from the general disarray of economy.
We need to give higher priority to health and social security. Even the most ardent devotee of capitalism would recognise that market competition is a poor way of organising health services, especially public health. Most affluent countries, with the sobering exception of the US, have come to terms with this and made health for all a public endeavour. The same applies to social security. The other lesson is recognising the value of solidarity and how it is constantly undermined by the caste system and other social divisions.