J K News Today Analysis

Jammu

The announcement of Rs. 20 lakh crore package by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, if analysed, shows that how he and his government are concerned over the lives of the people as also their livelihoods . Modi has translated his ever-alluring charisma into economic prospects that will benefit all Indians and touch their lives in a positive way.

True as it is, Prime Minister has made all the Indians aware of the grim realities that have come along with deadly corona virus, which the world had neither seen nor ever heard of. There is nothing comparable to this pandemic that has shaken countries across all the continents, some beyond repair for years together.

Prime Minister could sense that the times ahead were quite dangerous. The virus would claim more lives, there are already more than 2,000 deaths in India. This number looks small when studied in relation to the country’s population and not –so-strong health infrastructure before it struck India .The country is struggling to come out of the shadows of the virus, but accompanying adverse effects on the livelihood of the people were presenting a more worrisome scenario. The experts had started saying that if the poor in the country will not die of the disease, hunger would starve them to death.

Modi could not have ignored this scary scenario, which could have become an irreversible reality, had Government not initiated its intervention by way of the economic package of Rs. 20 lakh crore. That will help stablise the virus-hit economy but also lives of lakhs of people in the country, especially the people living below the poverty line.

Some experts have hailed this package as a vaccine for the ailing economy. That is the truth. But bigger truth that many have not attempted to see is that it would also help change the social scenario. The Covid-19 patients, even those who had recovered- India has a laudable rate of recovery of over 31 per cent – were facing a stigma. They were ostracized. There also were number of reports where the victims of the corona virus could not succeed in their battle against the disease, were denied cremation and burials by the villagers and townsfolk. This had struck heavily at the social fabric of the Indian society, known for its unique traditions of helping each other. The concept of social distancing doesn’t mean that social life and connect, while maintain distance, has come to an end.

Prime Minister has sought to repair these fault lines creeping and sweeping across the Indian society. This aspect needs to be studied in the context, when the revival of the economy starts, it will evoke a sense of work and gain. It is not going to be an individual’s gain, but that of the whole system. Here it is to be noted that PM encouraged the concept of “local and vocal.” This is a sort of connect that talks of economic activity picking up pace at one level, and reconnecting the social bonds that had come under severe threat because of the deadly virus, unsparing and cruel.

This is where Modi’s vision needs an appreciation beyond the crisp currency notes or the digital transaction of money.