COVID-19 & Rural India: Talking To Vijoo Krishnan
Vijoo Krishnan, Akhil KM
Akhil KM (AKM): The first case of COVID-19 was reported in India by the end of January. Aren’t we late in imagining a defence? And was the country prepared for a lockdown?
Vijoo Krishnan (VK): There was at least 2 months’ time from when the situation around the globe started to become serious. However, the government did not make any preparations. The time should have been used to create awareness among the general public. A concrete plan involving all States should have been in place to meet the looming health emergency. The Indian government underestimated the crisis and imposed a lockdown on a country that was woefully unprepared.
AKM: Is it merely a health crisis for workers, farmers and the depressed classes of this country?
VK: Certainly not. This is an economic and social crisis as well — because for the daily wage earners, workers and farmers it is not only the fear of getting infected by Corona that is going to matter, instead their loss of livelihood, threatening loan deadlines, threat of loss of standing crops are all equally serious.
AKM: Actually how feasible are lockdowns, home quarantine and methods like working from home, in a rural economy?
VK: Work From Home (WFH) is impossible for a farmer, agricultural worker or rural artisans and workers. Lockdown for them in the strict sense would be snatching away their livelihood, their year-long toil and investment, loss of standing crops, employment and would push a large number of people into starvation. An answer to this question will also have to speak of the dismal state of housing and the large amount of homeless in India. Millions live without basic facilities, electricity and water in congested huts or dwellings; a large part of rural India is unfamiliar with the concept of separate rooms. Hence physical distancing or home quarantine cannot even be imagined. It is impractical to suggest creation of an isolated quarantine area for a family member with symptoms. The State will have to make arrangements for the same.
AKM: So, a community-spread stage in rural India will be unimaginably disastrous...
VK: Unfortunately, yes. If a person is affected, the entire family will have to be kept under isolation. The health infrastructure in most Indian states is inadequate and the situation is even more dismal in the rural areas. In the event of community spread we are staring at a disaster as we do not have facilities and neither have efforts been made to arrange make-shift isolation wards. At national level 0.55 beds are available per 1000 persons. Many states including Bihar, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra, Odisha, Assam and Manipur lie below the national average. Apparently, these states together comprise 70% of the total population in India. With very limited health facilities available, who will be excluded in a higher stage of community-spread? Certainly it will be people from the depressed classes. The moneyed classes will alone be able to afford treatment in private hospitals.
AKM: The present rate at which tests are being conducted are also disappointing. As per an Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) report that came out on March 23, the test rate was 10 per million. Now it has increased to 30, but still is not sufficient. Is it not a fact that less rate of testing is hampering a correct assessment of the intensity of the spread? Also, the expense in private laboratories is high.
VK: The rate at which tests are being conducted is dangerously less. India has one of the lowest test rates in the world. A doctor from Burundi, a country in East Africa had said “There are zero cases in Burundi because there have been zero tests.” Situation of many States in India is not very different. In such a situation we are not even in a condition to assess the community spread in many places. That is a reason why the proportion of death and confirmed cases are not matching in many states. There is also a need to identify infected persons and also isolate those who have come in contact with such persons. Unless there is widespread rapid testing that is almost an impossible task. Two weeks before, the maximum rate set by the government is Rs. 4, 500. In fact, in most places the tests are not happening even at this amount. Unless there are facilities arranged in government hospitals, it is unlikely that people will undergo tests in rural areas. As we are witnessing, this will certainly affect the rate of testing. So, there should be proper arrangement to carry out more tests, for free. You can see this difference in the case of states like Kerala, which has now also gone for rapid testing.
AKM: Along with the unavailability of medical care, is hunger emerging as another crisis that has to be addressed at this stage?
VK: If one does not put a system in place to universally distribute food-grains, India will witness a surge in malnutrition and hunger deaths. The United Nations and other agencies have already warned about the food crisis that is likely to engulf the world. The loss of livelihoods and incomes and thereby purchasing power of the masses will lead to a situation where they are unable to buy food-grains and essential goods. There is also the threat of loss of standing wheat crop and paddy in many places being lost due to unavailability of labour, harvesters under lockdown. Although, presently, India has more than the required buffer stocks, food shortages also loom large in a not so distant future if the government does not facilitate harvest and procurement. Already India records high instances of malnutrition and fares dismally on the Global Hunger Index. During the earlier Spanish flu outbreak or during the Ebola outbreak also the issue of hunger deaths cropped up. Ironically we have more than the required buffer stocks at present and we are witnessing a situation of hunger amidst plenty. Innovative schemes like reaching adequate quantities of food and essentials at the doorstep must be rolled out. In times of an economic recession and a persistent agrarian crisis, a prolonged lockdown will undoubtedly increase the hardship of people. Poverty, unemployment, malnutrition and hunger will become even more widespread. Incentives to corporates cannot protect the people; we have to address the fundamental issues of the masses. Confidence building measures to stop escalation of farm suicides must come without further delay.
AKM: When the central government and most of the state governments are struggling to copup with the crisis, Kerala seems to have shown a model for the fight. Even the national media started to say that “What Kerala thinks today, India must think tomorrow!”
VK: True. Even before the central government came with any package, the state government came out with an emergency package of 20, 000 crore to address the crisis. Kerala has an impeccable record as far as public health facilities are concerned, with the best health infrastructure accessible to all. The Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in Kerala was way ahead of the other states and even many developed countries in its preparedness to handle COVID-19 through meticulous planning by observing the Wuhan situation. Over 1.5 lakh hospital beds have been readied with more spaces being identified in schools, hostels and other buildings for creation of isolation wards in case of an exponential increase. From the first case onwards, route-map of patients is traced; all in contact with them also have been kept under observation and home quarantine. Very clearly dealing with a pandemic requires the efforts of the State Government to be complemented by a Community Support System. The Kerala government is training 2, 36, 000 youth as volunteers to address a health epidemic or other crisis. In addition to the state government enterprise producing sanitisers, the Students’ Federation of India (SFI), Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) and other organisations have come forward to produce sanitisers and masks to ensure there is no short supply. Ventilators are also being produced to meet the requirements. More than 2000 Community Kitchens have been set up to ensure no one goes hungry, food packages are being delivered at homes for Anganwadi children. More than 15, 541 relief and shelter camps have been set up for migrant workers who are described by the Government as Guest Workers. This is 68.6 percent of all such camps across India. The workers are given proper care and camps are run effectively. The use of the phrase ‘Guest worker’ itself is remarkable. Helplines are set up to ensure that the grievances are solved addressing them in their own languages. Advance distribution of all social welfare pensions for 6 months and assistance to people who are not covered by these schemes has been started. Other than the ratio of rice provided, 87 lakh beneficiaries are being given free kits which include cooking oil, pulses, spices, sugar, semolina, wheat flour, salt, soaps etc. 55 lakh old aged, differently-abled and widows have been paid Rs. 8, 500 each. Kerala Government has embarked on a mission to provide Rs.1000 to Rs. 5000 to 46 lakh people on the register of Labour Welfare Funds. Adopting an inclusive approach the state government is addressing issues at a micro level. Total social security in times of COVID is the state’s slogan.
AKM: What are the issues faced by farmers now, considering that the harvest season is also nearing?
VK: It is now the harvest season for many crops including wheat, paddy in some areas, chilli, different pulses. Already the unseasonal rain has affected the harvest. Also there is difficulty in finding workers or harvesters and facilities for transportation. If the standing crops cannot be harvested, the entire investment, both as toil and capital will go down the drain. The menace of stray cattle and wild animals is threatening destruction of standing crops. Marketing of perishables like milk, vegetables, fruits and flowers are also constrained. Cattle feed and poultry feed is not reaching farmers. Poultry farmers have suffered huge losses. After the initial period of lockdown distress sale of whatever could be saved from their standing crops will be an inevitable consequence. So, there should be a relaxation in lockdown with the government pitching in for harvesters, provision of personal protection equipment etc. The Kerala government has come with an announcement and paddy harvesting will be considered as an essential service and they will assist in the harvest.
AKM: What are the issues among adivasi farmers?
VK: In tribal areas, in addition to the threat of malnutrition, starvation and lack of health facilities, there is the additional problem of being unable to collect Minor Forest Produce (MFP) like honey, mahua, tendu leaves etc., as well as in their marketing. An already deprived marginalised section will be further pushed into acute distress.
AKM: Is the package announced by the central government impressive? What are the demands of the Kisan Sabha?
VK: The package is too little and too late. It should have come before the Prime Minister’s address and in a more inclusive manner with special financial assistance to states for coping with the crisis. Before the elections, there was a lot of propaganda that 14.5 crore farmers will benefit from the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi. But now when the time comes to pay back, the number given is 8.7 crores only. Where have about 6 crore farmers vanished with a sleight of hand? What about the landless peasants, tenants, share-croppers who do not feature in these lists? Also the announced 2000 rupees is in any case due to the farmers now. The entire 6000 under PM-KISAN should be transferred to farmers. Harvesting and marketing of foodgrains, milk and other perishables like fruits and vegetables must be declared an Essential Service as Kerala has done. The increase of Rs. 20 in MGNREGA wages is pittance and even job opportunities are absent under lockdown. Our demand was to use the unemployment clause in the MGNREGA and give Rs. 300 per day or the minimum wage in a State, whichever is higher to the workers. The present package alone will be inadequate to address the crisis of the present magnitude. AIKS and AIAWU reiterate our demand of Rs. 5, 000/- to the beneficiaries being provided with ration as an interim. This would have required an allocation of about 4 lakh crores for a month. A Financial Package to States to deal with the extraordinary situation must also be announced forthwith. Loan waiver for small, middle, tenant and landless farmers must be announced. Free seeds and subsidised inputs are to be given to the farmers. Crop and income losses due to the lockdown must be addressed. Also in the ration, 1 kg pulse is not enough; it has to be increased to 5 kg. Also essentials like cooking oil, sugar, salt, spices etc., have to be included. Strong deterrent action against hoarders and black-marketers must be ensured. We have to ensure that hunger does not emerge as a killer.
AKM: Migrant labourers are among the most vulnerable sections affected by this pandemic. The visuals from Delhi, of thousands of workers on foot fleeing to their homelands were disturbing...
VK: It reflects the plight and insecure living conditions of migrant workers mostly in the unorganised informal sector. The central government and the Prime Minister did not even seem to be aware of the existence of the millions of workers who make great contributions to build infrastructure, provide services, keep urban spaces clean and perform numerous other tasks. Many migrants work as security guards, rickshaw-wallahs, auto and taxi drivers, sell vegetables, fruits and other wares on hand carts as street vendors and so on. A good number of them are peasants and agricultural workers who in the lean period come to cities to earn. They come far away from their homes in search of livelihood and are forced to live deprived of basic necessities. Many of them do not have documents and ration cards. The abandonment of this large section and absence of any plan for them led to an unprecedented situation wherein they had to flee on foot like refugees in their own land. Many were stranded in the States and left to fend for themselves without a job or food. The spraying of bleaching powder on them by the Uttar Pradesh authorities shows the height of insensitivity.
AKM: It is often said that everyone becomes a socialist when there is a crisis. Is the free market model once again showing its incompetence?
VK: The global capitalist crisis is continuing and most countries are in a state of recession with rising inequalities and unemployment. COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the fragility of the neoliberal model like never before. The neoliberal paradigm resulted in opening up health and education for corporate profiteering. Public Health facilities were drastically curtailed. Public funds to health and education were cut and the existing institutions were systematically destroyed. Today those who were the greatest votaries of privatisation are now talking about nationalisation of health facilities. We are seeing the response of Cuba to the pandemic. Despite the debilitating economic sanctions they treated British citizens without any hesitation and have sent doctors to Italy and other places. Spain which is one of the worst hit by COVID-19 has decided to bring hospitals under Government control. We need to more aggressively than ever bring the agenda of nationalisation of health, education and banking facilities into the narrative. Accessibility of facilities whether that is in the case of Health or Education should be the primary concern and must be accessible to all.
AKM: Isn’t a community support system is necessary to fight the pandemic?
VK: The Spanish flu caused the death of around 5 crore people exactly a century before. Many people have starved to death without the supply of food. Such a situation is often exploited by the right reactionary forces to sow distrust and hatred in society. We are seeing how there is an anti-China campaign as well as an Islamophobic reaction in the wake of the Tablighi Jamaat meeting where many were found to be infected by COVID-19. Such a campaign creating suspicion, distrust in the society will affect the whole chain of human relations. Xenophobia and imperialist pressure tactics like in the case of the USA threatening India with dire consequences if Hydroxychloroquine (HCQS) was not sent to them, even as India would itself require huge quantities to be countered. What is required is social solidarity and care rather than fear. Certainly the government cannot win the battle alone. But it has a leading role in giving confidence to the people and building social solidarity. A community support system that empathises with the infected, with the affected people informed by scientific temper has to be built to strengthen the solidarity of people within India and across borders.
AKM: The situation all across the globe is becoming worse. In India also, from different places the reports regarding the possibility of community spread is coming. What should be the plan forward?
VK: There are many concerns to address. Not letting the pandemic enter the community spread stage is the prime concern at present. A concrete plan for investments in the health sector is required. Building awareness and bringing the society together acquires much importance. In the short-run there should be a plan to ensure that people are assured with essential supplies and other requirements. In the long run on the basis of the solidarities built, strengthening the unity of workers and peasants as well as all oppressed we should all concentrate our energies to implement a pro-people alternative. Public funded education, health, social security as well as universal public distribution system should feature prominently in such an alternative.
Vijoo Krishnan is the Joint Secretary of the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) and a Central Committee Member of the CPI (M).
Akhil KM is an LLB student at the Faculty of Law, University of Delhi, and a State Committee Member of SFI-Delhi. Read Akhil KM’s detailed report of the ‘Unions in Action’ convention here.
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