Ashish Kaul
Current and any further lockdown is welcome. It is our first line of defense and our duty as citizens to support all govt. decisions. However, is this the way forward in absence of any anti-dote?. In this case the continuance of lockdown in absence of multiple flanking strategies will always make us reactionary and every single new case of Corona will only create an infinite loop of a lockdown with no solution in sight. Let us take a moment to analyze the situation at hand.
We have a novel virus with no antidote as of now. This means the spread can’t be stopped unless every single soul stops interacting with another. People need to eat if nothing to survive and for that they will have to venture. We can’t create a situation that people die in absence of essentials in an effort to keep them safe from Corona. In effect everyone will sooner or later be effected and the response will be directly proportional to individual immunity until a time a vaccine is developed – which would be 6 to 12 months away. So primarily we need to plan for next 12 months.
Education & ITES : Impact, Solutions and opportunities:
* Revise the curriculum, especially for medical studies. Instead of 5 years courses, we need to have the course completed in 4 years and with an addition of just 1 hour daily this can be achieved. Humanity needs medical fraternity to survive – we all have learnt that. Instead of lengthening the studies (which we do because we don’t invest in creating more medical facilities in states) we must simultaneously develop healthcare. Upgrade degrees like BDS to MBBS and enable virology etc to be included in BDS and allied studies. This will be our backup for emergencies.
* Current times are a challenge and improving healthcare is an opportunity – as important as Defense. Billions of dollars have and are pouring in but if we don’t invest them wisely in building tangible assets then we will find all funds have evaporated in thin air. Why should an AIIMS be a fashion statement to have, why can’t we have an AIIMS every district level with a health emergency response team alongwith a containment zone for at least 2000 patients. These facilities can be built alongwith district stadiums that we have (including the ones under BCCI).
* Likewise All educational institutions must be closed till July end. We can always prepone opening the institutions. Children and youth is our future capital and needs protection. There is no education today that cannot be rendered online. However, reliance on foreign IT services and solutions is not advisable on long-term basis given free access to pornography, security issues etc. This also is an opportunity for us to release how poor is our IT services infrastructure and how important it is to build strong platforms to enable education and health services. Right from healthcare to professional education, everything can be delivered online. Only practical lessons will have to be deferred.
* Tremendous bandwidth is available but locked due to red tape and lack of vision. All professional education can be delivered using DD’s terrestrial platform. All educational Institutions will only need a home device to conduct online classes across entire India.
* Similar infrastructure needs to be activated as they treat millions of Indians for various ailments and have direct access to the last mile between patients and services. We keep using alternate medicine / Ayush etc but only as cosmetic agents – now is the time to bring them in mainstream and help us fight this war.
Medical Intervention, testing and lockdown :
* For lockdown to work we can’t be reactionary in our approach. We are reacting to the spread whereas we should be restricting the spread. That can only be done by a combination of lockdown and testing. Make post offices again a hub for medical testing society by society that will help us eliminate the transmission probability. A lockdown post an occurrence is meaningless in absence of a solution. Testing, elimination and lockdown in tandem will be the correct methodology. Furthermore, availability of bare essentials to combat corona is still cosmetic. It still is not that we get a mask or sanitizer easily and it is unfair to always make a common man take the responsibility of doing things for his own safety.
Medical and Delivery Infrastructure for survival & containment :
* We can’t lock people inside considering this being a virus / transmittable disease. People will have to eat at least and that means going out. They will use a staircase, a lift, a corridor, a road etc and therefore will be prone to infection. We need to create an extensive network for backward integration / upstream delivery mechanism. India has 30 crore people to say the least who are in some form of daily wage. This segment is the worst effected but our greatest strength. These people should be mobilized to work through nearest post offices that have tremendous reach and network across every home in India. Post offices should be used as feeders to assign manpower for delivery alongwith retail chains – primarily to deliver food grains, vegetables, medicines and other essentials. IF we allow people to come out of homes then we cannot stop corona spread therefore the only way for a lockdown to deliver 100% result is to mobilise our manpower and deliver essentials to door step. This will keep employment cycle rotating across the daily wagers.
Transportation & emergency travel :
* It is important for people to know of the welfare of their parents especially the elderly, currently it is only the influential who can get a transit pass or the people who are able to create viral videos using media. Busses at 25% capacity (only 1 person per row), likewise Trains and aircrafts can work only for domestic travel. Rates must be controlled for 90 days. All corporates in existence for over 5 years need no exemption in taxes etc. Let’s understand that it is impossible for anyone to travel given vast distances in India. Public transportation is a must. Airports and railway stations already have a mechanism and infrastructure in place and therefore they must be operationalized first.
Current Industries / Corporates :
* Recession is a number and can be dealt with next year. Companies with a capital base must be instructed to retain staff. However, these companies need to sell goods & services to be able to sustain this model over a year. Therefore, it is important to allow manufacturing services with a 50% occupancy to begin with. Focus must be on commodities and agriculture alike. This will keep the economy rotating for the time -being.
Overall, I also see a failure of true Corporate Social Responsibility. Where is the fancy corporate sector and NGO’s who collect billions of dollars worldwide ? Why does a common man still not get a bare essential like a mask ?. we do need long-term introspection on our absent town planning. Metros have now realized how dangerous is the politics of appeasement and vote bank through slums and unregulated dwelling clusters. Especially cities like Mumbai and Delhi have 60 % and more people living in 1 room accommodation and they cannot practice social distancing even if they want to. The surge in Corona cases during 2nd lockdown is a clear reflection of the challenge up ahead. There is also an important aspect which is the Industries / corporates. Barring the top few corporates, India has been let down by the vast medium sized corporate, especially the ones in existence for over 10 years. The enormous pressure that has been created on the Government due to a looming unemployment scenario is forcing the Government to be lenient towards such Industries. Have these Industries not even earned enough in last 5 to 10 years to sustain a meagre workforce for next 6 months to ensure the true effect of lockdown ? After all the salary related expenses are not more than 2 to 3% of the topline so anyone saying otherwise is doing something radically wrong. What happened to those fancy public relation statements of double digit topline increases and swelling profits? It is shameful for corporates to withdraw on employee commitments within just 60 days. This culture of hiding behind current quarterly sales must stop during such aglobal crisis. Why is employee commitment left only to people like TATA’s and a handful few?. In terms of corporate and retail sales it is a clear situation of deferment and not cancellation of purchases. Whether it is white goods, brown goods or any other commodities, people will buy them as and when the markets open up so this hue and cry is premature and manageable. On the contrary, we are at the precipice of a who new reorganised, efficient business models. Trade markets will boom, real estate prices will rationalise propelling the market. This is the time for corporates to demonstrate CSR commitments and support the Government.
(The author is a business leader and bestselling author )
feedbackexcelsior@gmail.com
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