Maharashtra CM on Tuesday announced the urge to impose stricter lockdowns amid the threat of the new variant of the coronavirus. Uddhav Thackery asserted more restrictions in the whole state and obtruded Section 144 starting from 8 pm tomorrow for 15 days.
“All establishments, public places, activities to remain closed. Essential services exempted, their operations to be unrestricted,” according to a notification by the Maharashtra government. The concern is, does the lockdown going to curb the infections, or is it to control the hype and agitation of the Indian citizens. Section 144 will get imposed across the state from tomorrow.
The government did not term it as a lockdown, which could change the existing restrictions. The government is a Congress-led state and has been constantly triggered by the bhakts for its incompetence, but the gigantic picture is more conflicting. The surge in Maharashtra is worldwide and exposing the reminiscence of the last wave of the coronavirus. The current wave might even be more deadly than the previous one, claims various health reports.
The decision was taken after witnessing the state’s deteriorating conditions with the constant surge of Covid-19 transmissions. Maharashtra is the worst-hit across Indian states reporting, over 50,000 cases for the last few days. He further asserted that Maharashtra might need the assistance of the Indian Air Force in the supply of oxygen for medical use from nearby states.
The concerns and the demands would be confronted to the Prime Minister later this week. What will be the focal point of the meeting? And whether it will be a positive one is uncertain. The suspicious relations between the state and the Central government play a vital role in the activities conduct.
Further noteworthy points of the CM’s press release
The perturbations have been growing in the state, with rumors of a deadly surge awaiting the edges. But overviewing the harsh circumstances, Uddhav Thackeray has affirmed to shut down the services temporarily. Cinema halls, theatres, auditoriums, amusement parks, gyms, sports complexes to be closed. Film Shooting, serial, ads to be ceased. All shops, malls, shopping centers not performing essential services also remain closed from 8 pm. Thackeray asserted that E-commerce would only be allowed for the delivery of mandated goods and services.
No social gatherings would be conducted during the overhaul. Although the states would be able to curb the rates substantially, it would affect vast industries. Maharashtra is across the six significant states who contribute the most proportion to the GDP growth. India has been under the threat of the coronavirus for over a year and has now become the second-most affected country from the coronavirus across the world. Local trains and bus services for essential services only would be permitted across the state; Petrol pumps, financial institutions associated with SEBI, and construction would work to continue.
Uddhav Thackery commended the healthcare professionals and the doctors.
Despite the current situation getting scary, the healthcare workers and the doctors have done a commendable job in containing the cases overall during the pandemic. When the cases were at their peak in September, the healthcare professionals made sure that they see a fall in the infections in the later stages of 2020.
He further stated if it wasn’t for them, the situation of the state might have been worse, and the fatality rates would have been higher. Although they had constrained the initial surge, they are getting overburdened momentarily. The health infrastructure is getting conservative and is not able to eradicate the problem of the patients. The CM added that the oxygen produced is getting used for medical purposes and highlighted the shortage of beds in hospitals.
Sufferings of Maharashtra have been the highest in the nation.
Not only has the state been suffering an inadequacy of facilities; it also has been highly criticized for its incompetence by the Union Cabinet. It has become so peculiar with the current regime that they will go on deep ends to demean its opposition. The storyline of Maharashtra has been more devastating, with prolific people losing their lives, including big stars and ministers.
But the situation slightly gauged when India announced the vaccination drive. It has also been hampered due to the shortage of life-saving drug Remdivisir in the state. Maharashtra is the worst-affected state in the country in terms of the number of Covid-19 cases and fatalities.
“We’ve to break the chain of transmission of infection. We could have avoided lockdown if the number of cases was less. The government will do its best to save lives,” said Maharashtra Minister Aslam Sheikh. Earlier, he claimed that there was a unanimity among the stakeholders of the company to impose a lockdown if the thrive gets worse. The SOPs and the other guidelines that need integrating for the new phase are likely to be discussed in another meeting scheduled for tomorrow.
In today’s meeting, the primitive focus on imposing section 144. The guidelines would be decided because of scaling an adequate essential supply of goods and services across the state. What lies ahead for Maharashtra? Is the lockdown the final answer to the puzzle of Covid-19? The questions are surreal, but the answers uncertain like always.
Maharashtra’s economy amidst the COVID-19 pandemic
The State Government has been compelled to follow the directives of the Cabinet, which have been way more pragmatic. If the states delineated a sorted out procedure the results might have been different. Besides that, discussions are underway with the Cabinet on various issues, including the availability of beds, use of Remdesivir, and imposition of restrictions. What’s the roadmap ahead for Maharashtra will get diversified into parts like the economic impact, the income stimulus, and the vaccination drive.
We are focusing on the two focal points, which would be significant to impact Maharashtra’s working as a unit. The deepened cores that have been disintegrated from the government’s perspective is the economic impact. Let’s cover the economic impact in two parts; one being the impact of the previous waves, and the other being the pathway ahead. With the lockdown extended until May 1, it could create havoc among the business fraternities and small-scale businesses as it might be a multitude of offsets, and the uncertainty would prolong further. Stricter rules and norms amidst the pandemic have led to fewer businesses coping up with it.
Facilitating a strict flow of goods and services was a very wise choice for the state amidst the Essential services like medical, police, public transport, services related to the RBI, veterinary, groceries, dairies, water supply personnel, warehouse services, export/ import, e-commerce, cargo, postal, media, local disaster management authorities. Etc. have led to the economy stabilized and prevented it from going into any form of financial crisis.
These services required the movement of essential personnel on their line of duty and would eventually mean restricted movement of people barring the above-mentioned services. Maharashtra has been the witness to the new outbreak of the virus, seeing a huge spike in the number of people being affected which in turn also posed a significant threat to the state and as a result on its functioning too.
The top priorities of the state must include health care and the safety of its citizens. The most recent wave of the novel coronavirus is considered to be even more deadly but has already spread like wildfire in the state of Maharashtra. This event has led to a gradual slowing down of the economy of the state. Starting with the small-scale businesses, several of them were shut down due to the pandemic.
The pandemic restricted their operations in various ways. Whether it was immobility of raw materials and resources or challenges of getting the final product delivered to the end consumer. The route ahead to survive and then succeed in the market can only be determined once the pandemic is completely dealt with. Otherwise, it is always a threat.
The large-scale corporations, bog businesses, and MNCs could still survive given the circumstances and gained more traction online due to faster, no-contact deliveries, online secure payments, and instant feedback to the suppliers of the products and services. Although a lot of exports and imports were tremendously affected in the initial days of the lockdown, a relaxation on the same has paved the way for big businesses to stay afloat. The big names were able to sustain themselves.
The government of Maharashtra called out to the citizens of the state to help proceed with the unanimous decision of imposing a lockdown by all authorities. The efforts have to be collected if the state does wish to get out safely from this challenge that has been fatal to this particular state the most. The way ahead to bring the economy to function with full force will depend on how well the state tackles the pandemic at its current stage and how long will it be able to sustain itself in the state. Along with efficient tackling of the pandemic, it would also need to lend preliminary essentials to the suffering community.
The trends of Mumbai showcase that the slums have not been able to counter the virus proactively. There is a case of shortages in accessing the facilities due to the large concentration of Dharavi’s people getting contracted with Covid-19. So with a higher propensity, people are being stranded at homes apart from the transmitting members of the family.
The difficulties are affecting their income, who are the frameworks of the industries. The production would curb another toll, even if it is not an extended lockdown as these workers earn merely sustainable wages. The backbone of the Maharashtra economy is reeling down, and the sufferings are going to prolong a little longer. The government’s disarray has been belittled, and the Cabinet isn’t even bothered one bit.
