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‘Social unrest’ warning as Modi looks to extend India’s lockdown
NEW DELHI, April 13, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Key industries are warning of
social unrest unless India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi makes
concessions when he announces any extension Tuesday to a three-week
pandemic-lockdown for the country’s 1.3 billion people.
The lockdown ends at midnight Tuesday, but several state chief
ministers have already said they plan to extend it for at least two
more weeks.
With time running out, the government has not laid out any national plan.
Modi, who is to make a nationwide address at 0430 GMT Tuesday, is
caught between growing fears over the pandemic — cases have surged in
recent days to more than 9,150 with 308 deaths — and the need to get
the economy moving again.
Reserve Bank of India governor Shaktikanta Das called the
coronavirus an “invisible assassin” that could cause havoc with the
economy.
The national restaurants association, which said its members
employed seven million people, warned Monday there could be “social
unrest” if it did not receive financial relief.
The government is considering making people stay at home in Delhi,
Mumbai and other major cities while opening up rural parts of the
country that have so far been relatively untainted by coronavirus,
according to some reports.
Media have predicted it would be relaxed for key sectors such as
agriculture.
With thousands of trucks carrying food and other essential produce
being stuck at internal borders, the home ministry has already sent
out new orders to states calling for better movement of essentials.
Farms, still the bedrock of the economy, are heading into their
most important harvest time of the year with massive transport of
crops that earn money to finance many villages for months.
The commerce ministry has also reportedly urged the government to
consider opening more activities “with reasonable safeguards” even if
the lockdown is extended. The government has a long list of sectors
which want to start work again. The car industry, already hit by the
economic slowdown, has been pressing to reopen factories. The
possibility of arranging staggered shifts for different sectors is
also being considered by authorities as a way of cutting down contact
between workers. Economic growth slowed to about five percent in
months ahead of the coronavirus crisis.
Now some analysts say growth could slump to 1.5-2.0 percent this
year — way below the minimum needed to provide jobs for the millions
coming onto India’s labour market each month.
BSS/AFP/MRU/1858hrs