Lockdown Extension: Which Sectors Be Allowed?

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be addressing the nation tomorrow at 10 am which is the last day of the 21-day nationwide lockdown imposed to check the spread of coronavirus. The same has been announced through Twitter handle of Prime Minister Office.

While many states including Telangana, Punjab, Odisha and Maharashtra have already extended restrictions till the end of the month, there has been no such diretion from the Cenral government yet.

Meanwhile, the debate is on about the number of days the lockdown to be extended and whether there will be any relaxations for any sectors as the lockdown is already hurting the economy.

As per reports, the extension of lockdown will be for three to four weeks. However, it seems, lockdown restrictions will be limited for red and orange zones and industrial sector is expected to be allowed to resume work.

Officials say around 400 districts, which are largely unaffected, can be in the green zone where agriculture, construction and manufacturing activities can begin while keeping social distancing in mind.

The suggestion is to continue a complete lockdown or partial restrictions in the districts affected by coronavirus.

The services industry, which generates almost half of India's GDP, is likely to remain shut for some more time. Construction, which employs a bulk of migrant workers, will remain similarly suspended. The unemployment rate may have already climbed to more than 20% after the lockdown.

For the moment, economists say, the government will have to prioritise farming over everything else to ensure the livelihoods of millions and secure the country's future food supplies.

Half of India's labour force work on farms. The lockdown happened at a time when a bumper winter crop had to be harvested and sold, and the rain-fed summer crop had to be sowed. The immediate challenge is to harvest and market the first crop, and secure the second.

Moving trucks to pick up produce and take them to markets, with adequate social distancing and hand washing will be something the government will have to move on quickly.