Letters to the editor dated July 8, 2020

This refers to the editorial ‘Rural upheaval’ (July 8). While the Covid induced reverse migration of workers to rural areas is exacerbating the unemployment crisis, the MSME and construction sectors are facing scarcity of labour resulting in the underutilisation of installed capacities. The farming and non-farming activities in the rural sector are inadequate to absorb the oversupply of labour. As the likelihood of the labourers moving out of their native places is slim, it is essential to create additional jobs by focussing on rural infrastructure and agri-related industrial projects. Labour-intensive strategies, though uneconomical and against modern practices, need to be adopted to address the present job crisis.

The government must strengthen its focus on ensuring a robust public healthcare system, besides initiating strong measures to prevent the spread of the virus. This will make the workers feel secure and prod them to move to the places from where they had migrated. It will to a large extent address the unemployment crisis of the rural areas, besides resolve the labour scarcity of the urban centres.

Kottayam

This has reference to the news item on the US advising students attending fully online courses to leave the country. The decision is improper as it is not the students who chose online classes but they were compelled to do so. The reason for this decision is not known. If it is the Covid problem, the US should undertake to take the students back after a certain period of time, and if it is political, the harmless Indian students should not be victimised. Already, these students have been losing out on amenities like library, face-to-face discussions, attending seminars, and so on, even though they have paid for them. The US move will hurt its universities, in terms of attracting students in the future. While they should take up the issue with the authorities, India should also intervene diplomatically to protect the interests of its students.

Mumbai

This refers to ‘The gold puzzle’ (July 8). It is no doubt surprising that in spite of the meagre demand for gold, thanks to dwindling incomes due to the pandemic and marriages being postponed, the price of the yellow metal has been surging. Some of the poor and lower-middle-class households have been selling gold to meet their liquidity needs. As gold is seen as an investment, its prices don’t fully reflect the demand-supply situation.

Sivakasi

There is no denying the fact that it has been Modi government’s resolve, determination and commitment which have forced the Chinese troops to retreat from the positions it had occupied earlier at the Galwan Valley. However, we must be cautious about celebrating prematurely. The Chinese are not to be trusted and the disengagement and pull-backs need to be verified. The stalemate between India and China along the LAC has considerable regional and international implications.

The China-Pakistan nexus is alive but it has not become a military threat. The prevailing global mood about Chinese aggression is in India’s favour though only the US, Japan and Australia have condemned Chinese unilateralism in Ladakh. India’s former best friend Russia is neutral, selling weapons to both China and India.

Kollam, Kerala

The Information and Broadcasting Ministry’s plan to incentivise film production in all segments of the media industry may be welcome for the producers’ lobby; however, there is no talk of incentivising the working class in Bollywood and the TV industry. The Covid-19 pandemic has also hit them hard like any other industry workers.

The millions of cine workers, who soothe the nerves of citizens quarantined in their homes by the content they helped to make, find no mention in any economic aid package of the government.

Ludhiana

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

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