Minor hit by car in UP minister's fleet, dies; CM announces Rs 5L ex gratia

From March through May, around 1 crore migrant workers fled India’s megacities, afraid to be unemployed, hungry and far from family during the world’s biggest anti-Covid-19 lockdown.

Now, as Asia’s third-largest economy slowly reopens, the effects of that massive relocation are rippling across the country. Urban industries don’t have enough workers to get back to capacity, and rural states worry that without the flow of remittances from the city, already poor families will be even worse off -- and a bigger strain on state coffers.

Meanwhile, migrant workers aren’t expected to return to the cities as long as the virus is spreading and work is uncertain. States are rolling out stimulus programs, but India’s economy is hurtling for its first contraction in more than 40 years, and without enough jobs, a volatile political climate gets more so.

“This will be a huge economic shock, especially for households of short-term, cyclical migrants, who tend to come from vulnerable, poor and low-caste and tribal backgrounds,” said Varun Aggarwal, a founder of India Migration Now, a research and advocacy group based in Mumbai.

In the first 15 days of India’s lockdown, domestic remittances dropped by 90%, according to Rishi Gupta, chief executive officer of Mumbai-based Fino Paytech Ltd., which operates the country’s biggest payments bank.

By the end of May, remittances were back to around 1750 rupees ($23), about half the pre-Covid average. Gupta’s not sure how soon it’ll fully recover. “Migrants are in no hurry to come back,” Gupta said. “They’re saying that they’re not thinking of going back at all.”

If workers stay in their home states long term, policymakers will have more than remittances to worry about. If consumption falls and the new surplus of labor drives wages down, Agarwal said, “there will also be a second-order shock to the local economy. Overall, not looking good.”

India announced a $277 billion stimulus package in May and followed it up with a $7 billion program aimed at creating jobs for 125 days for migrants in villages across 116 districts. Separately, local authorities are also looking for solutions.

Officials in Bihar have identified 2,500 acres of land that could be made available to investors, said Sushil Modi, deputy chief minister of Bihar, a state in east India. “We can use this crisis as an opportunity to speed up reforms,” he said.

The investors haven’t materialised yet, and in the meanwhile, state governments are relying on the national cash-for-work program that guarantees 100 days worth of wages per household.

Skilled workers don’t want to do manual labor offered through the program, and even if they did, says Amitabh Kundu of RIS, many think of it as beneath their station. “There will be an increase in social tensions,” he predicts. “Caste may again start playing a role. It’s absolute chaos.”

For skilled workers, initiatives vary:

* Uttar Pradesh, which received 3.2 million people, is compiling lists of skilled workers who need employment and trying to place them with local manufacturing and real estate industry associations. So far, the government says, it’s placed 300,000 people with construction and real estate firms.

* Bihar has placed returners in state-run infrastructure projects and hired others to stitch uniforms and make furniture for government-run schools, even as they waited in quarantine centres, said Pratyay Amrit, head of the state’s disaster management department.

* The eastern state of Odisha announced an urban wage employment program aimed at putting as many as 450,000 day labourers to work through September. Some 25,000 people have been employed, so far, under the scheme, G. Mathivathanan, principal secretary for housing and urban development said.

Attracting Investments

It’s not clear any of this will be enough to make a dent, says Ravi Srivastava, professor at New Delhi-based Institute of Human Development, adding that the states don’t have much of a track record on economic development.

“It was the failure of these states to improve governance and put development plans in place that led to the out-migration in the first place,” he said.

But officials and workers’ rights advocates see opportunity. Uttar Pradesh has established liaisons to encourage companies from the US, Japan and South Korea to establish manufacturing in the state. There and in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, the government has made labour laws more friendly to employers, making it easier to hire and fire workers.

Modi, the minister from Bihar, said the migration may also give workers--historically a disenfranchised group--new power, particularly as urban centres struggle. “The way industries treated workers during the lockdown -- didn’t pay them, the living conditions were poor -- now these industries will realize the value of this force,” Modi said.

“In the days to come, labour will emerge as a force that can’t be ignored anymore,” he added. “That’s the new normal. We will work out how to ensure dignity, rights to our people who are going to work in other states.”

Bihar is due for elections by November, a vote that could be an early test of the mass migration’s political consequences. The state is currently governed by a coalition that includes Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party. Amitabh Kundu, a fellow at the Research and Information System for Developing Countries, a New Delhi-based government think-tank, said migrant workers are likely to be angry voters.

“Chief ministers are telling these migrants that they will not have to go back for work,” he said. “But their capacity to do something miraculous in the next four to five months is doubtful. If they can retain even one-fourth of the migrants, I would call it a success.”

Wayanad, May 14: Coronavirus scare has gripped the police in the district as around 70 personnel, including their chief, have gone on quarantine as a precautionary measure after three colleagues tested positive for the pathogen.

A day after three personnel of Mananthavady police station tested positive for COVID-19, District Superintendent of Police R Illango said on Thursday he and others decided to quarantine themselves as they had been in contact with some other colleagues from the station. Twenty four personnel, including a Deputy Superintendent of Police, have gone on quarantine after giving their samples for testing three days ago as a measure of abundant caution after a man questioned in Manathavady police station in connection with a case tested positive for the virus on May 9.

Of the 24, results of 18 have been received so far and three personnel tested positive on Wednesday, following which the station has been disinfected and virtually closed and contact tracing underway.

On Wednesday, the SP and some other police personnel had interacted with the DySp for close to an hour at a checkpost following which over 40 police personnel have voluntarily decided to go on quarantine.

"We are actually being over cautious. I have spoken to all the policemen. We know we are in the high-risk job. We are concerned that we might spread it to family members, public, or colleagues. So we want to maintain extreme caution", Illango, who is on home quarantine, told PTI.

With the three personnel testing positive in the state, Kerala Director General of Police Loknath Behera said the force should take all necessary precautions and fearlessly go ahead in the fight against the virus.

The three from Manathavady are believed to have contracted the virus after they came in contact with a man who was called to the station in connection with a case on April 28 and May 2. He later tested positive for COVID-19 on May 9. This man is suspected to be a contact of a truck driver, who has turned out to be a super spreader after returning to the district from Chennai's Koyambedu market, a hotspot, and had infected at least 10 others, including his wife, mother and grandchild.

The Mananthavady police station has been disinfected with the help of the Health Department and Fire Force personnel. Computers and wireless equipment have been shifted to other police buildings and the station's charge has been temporarily given to Vallamunda Station House Officer, a release from the DGP's office said. Two police personnel wearing personal protection equipment (PPE) kits would be at the station to take care of necessary work and a health worker posted to help them, it said.

Police personnel from other stations have been mobilised to meet any shortage, Illangosaid adding they need not come to the police station but directly go to the duty points. Meanwhile, the district health authorities said the standard operating procedure (SOP) has been initiated as soon as the test results of the three came by Wednesday noon. Accordingly, all personnel who were on duty were sent to nearby lodges and resorts for quarantine.

One of the policemen who tested positive had been to Sulthan Bathery police station and Muthanga area, where the DySP and few other officials were also present. This is being seen as a lapse on the part of the police department. However, police sources said none had directed the 24 personnel, whose samples were collected on Monday, to go on quarantine or abstain from duty. The health department is trying to map out the contact list of the police personnel to contain further spread from their direct and secondary contacts.

According to police sources, the Sulthan Bathery Circle Inspector, two sub-inspectors and about 18 police personnel of the Mananthavady police station are among those who have been put on quarantine. As part of containment measures, the courts in Sulthan Bathery and Mananthavady have been closed on Thursday, officials said. 

New Delhi, Feb 29: Former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan has said slowdown in growth is due to the current government focussing more on meeting its political and social agenda rather than paying attention to the economy.

India can still reverse its slowing economic growth by paying attention to key issues, he said. "It's a sad story, I think most recently, it is politics," Rajan said in response to a question on what was stopping India's growth which remains below potential.

In an interview to Bloomberg TV, Rajan said unfortunately the current government after a massive election win has "focussed more on fulfilling its political and social agenda rather than paying attention to the economic growth".

"Unfortunately, this drift has continued a pace of slowing growth, which was precipitated initially by some actions the government took such as the demonetisation and a poorly rolled out Goods and Services Tax (GST) reform," Rajan said.

India's GDP growth hit nearly 7-year low of 4.7 per cent in the December quarter, as per official data released on Friday.

The GDP growth for the quarter is the lowest since January-March of 2012-13.

In the interview, which was telecast before the official numbers were released, Rajan said India has not paid sufficient attention to cleaning up the financial sector and unfortunately, that is leading to the slowing growth.

"These are things that they can change if attention is paid to them and appropriate actions are taken," Rajan, Professor of Finance at University of Chicago Booth School of Business, said.

On being asked about the spread of the coronavirus globally and its impact, he said there will certainly be some legacy issues in terms of business rethinking in the global supply chain.

"If it is disrupted anywhere, the entire supply chain is held ransom and companies are going to start rethinking that should we actually have these really spread out global supply chain or to bring them back closer home and how much diversification should we have. Should we have multiple production sites across the world rather than have it focussed primarily in Asia," he said.