Today is one such time when our economy faces crisis, with five crore migrant workers retuning home, though starving, walking on foot, without money, without hope or inclination to return to their hovels. But to revive economy, which was already going slow and now with lock down worsening even further, labour crunch could bring a crash.

According to experts, the migration is not due to former factors like availability of jobs or seasonal needs cropping up for particular skills, but it is the question of survival, as the threat of COVID 19 is staring at them and more dangerously, they have lost confidence in the system. They have realised that the system needs them, but does not care for them. Now facing the ultimate challenge, they opt to depend on their own resources, which is exclusively either their skills or physical strength. They know that without them, economy would fail to reboot, but also know that their demands would fall only on deaf ears. Here is the dialectics of the system. It was COVID 19 that crystallised the issues and sharpened the challenge.

Now, according to reports, it is the unavailability of the labour that has not only interrupted, but made it impossible to reboot the economy. One remembers the post second world war days when in the US, the workers in all the sectors decided to withdraw. They all refused to come back and join. The Strike was complete and ended only with 18 percent hike in wages.

The moment has returned with even greater dimensions, they had remained at the receiving end, but have now found the courage to say no to the call. Even now unaware of their own exclusivity in the economic process, without even knowing that it is their absence that could invite the disaster, they have wielded their strength. People bereft of their little and also basic comforts, are with them. Despite their dire living conditions, going without shelter, food, even water and health services, they stuck to their jobs as it offered them little respite. They could send some money to their families at home. Now, according to reports, those managed to reach home, are not prepared to accept the same denials. Their demands are though simple, reflect the deprivation and indifference that they had faced for so long. The much scarce proper face masks, supply of sanitizers, few days leave to rest and recover and most imperative, hike in wages to sustain. But all these basic facilities were denied to them while at work and even now, when many of them are stranded at shelter homes.

Meanwhile, GDP slips down to 0.4 percent this year, and economy heads towards contraction, which has afflicted the country for the first time in decades. Since last two years, economy was gripped by slowdown, as the world was getting closer to pandemic. The lockdown has claimed huge revenue loss, leading to little fiscal space for the government to afford stimulus. It would be long before the country would be able to recover from the economic crisis.

The issues raising their heads are absence of demand, job losses, salary cuts, scare of COVID-19 that has severely affected the mass behaviour, social distancing, lack of government intervention, limited fiscal space, and on top of it, the industries are facing COVID penalty threat too, and asked the government for clarification.

In addition to it, there are attempts to politicise the crisis polarising the social fabric. Discrimination on communal, caste lines are gaining new grounds. Covid-19 has, with finality of its challenge, acted in both ways, stimulating the petty issues as scapegoats to get away from the debilitating fear and also inspiring courage, despite the high rate of deprivation, to speak up and protest. (IPA Service)