Nationwide Lockdown in India
Today is the first day of the 21 day lockdown.
So far, all decisions that impacted us regarding the Corona outbreak were made by the Kerala state and they were on top of the situation. Last Monday, a one-week statewide lockdown was announced. All our colleagues, who could still travel, were able to go home. Others stayed in the kanthari staff quarters. Just one day later, the central government in Delhi announced an immediate and complete 21 days nationwide lockdown. That meant, no one is allowed to travel or even commute between house and work.
We were prepared for the initial lockdown for a week, we had stocked the storage room, fed the fish in the pond and planted some vegetables. But fish and vegetables need time to grow, and we had not expected to feed 8 persons for 21 days.
Now, try to imagine: 1.3 Billion people are ordered to stay home for 21 days. An estimate of 170 million people in India live of less than 130 Rupees, which means 1.50 Euro a day. Many of them are daily laborers who spend most of what they have earned on food for themselves and their families. It is not yet clear how the authorities will distribute staple food like rice and dal to each household.
Since there was no warning period, many of these poor people are not so concerned about the dangers of the Corona virus, instead they are afraid that they will die because of hunger. When hunger sets in, it can easily lead to calamities. What if households or institutions are robbed by hungry persons. Can we blame them?
Thailand has already seen a rising rate of crime in the cities. A kanthari graduate from Thailand, wrote that the military took drastic measures, to prevent more robberies. We have noticed that insecurity plays a major factor. What will happen next? When will this be over?