Lockdown – Is it Right To Choose People over Economy?

Absolutely!

Economy once declined can be revived but people once dead cannot be revived again. In the backdrop of building a healthy nation PM on Tuesday addressed the nation and increased the lockdown till 3 May in the view of increasing coronavirus cases.

However, the economy continues to decline. A British brokerage firm Barclays said on Tuesday that extending the nationwide lockdown to 3 May due to the Corona virus epidemic would cause an economic loss of US $ 234.4 billion and that it could sustain GDP in the calendar year 2020 without any variation. Barclays said in a comment that economic growth will be zero for calendar year 2020 and from a fiscal perspective, it will only grow by 0.8 per cent in 2020-21.

Economic loss of US $234.4b anticipated due to lockdown

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced the extension of the lockdown for three weeks, which will now be applicable till May 3. He indicated some relief to areas unaffected by the infection from April 20, but said that the exemption would be based on strict monitoring. The brokerage firm had previously stated that a three-week lockdown is expected to cause a financial loss of US $ 120 billion, which is now expected to increase to US $ 234.4 billion.

Earlier it was expected that India would register two and a half percent growth in calendar year 2020, which has now been reduced to zero. On the other hand, a growth of 3.5 percent was earlier projected in FY 2020-21, which has now been reduced to 0.8 percent. The comment stated that the mining, agriculture, manufacturing and utilities sectors in particular will have more negative impact than anticipated. 

Decision to increase lockdown is correct: SMEV

The Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicle (SMEV) said on Tuesday that the decision to increase the lockdown is a right step, although the functioning of its members for the next 1-2 months would certainly be adversely affected.

SMEV Director General Sohinder Gill termed this time as a test for the EV sector and said that it was time for its members to save cash, take care of workers and plan for further expansion. 

Gill said in a statement, “Given the current state of the country, the extension of lockdown is the right step. However, operations will definitely be adversely affected for the next 1-2 months. I believe that we will be able to save the lives of thousands of people and will emerge as a healthy nation”.