Letters to the editor dated May 20, 2021

This has reference to ‘The shrinking middle class’ (May 20). The middle class is less of an urban phenomenon, as large sectionsnow reside in rural areas.

The policy shifts post 2015-16 have steadily favoured urban economic activity while the complex matrix of the rural economy was sought to be addressed merely by leveraging MSP. Covid has exposed the weakness of such a simplistic approach. Migrant labour are forced back without a livelihood to villages that never had adequate health protection.

Navi Mumbai

The impact of two consecutive years of the pandemic has had a telling effect on the middle class. Though there has been some saving in terms of transportation expenses due to ‘work from home’ concept, many in the middle class have to cut corners due to lay-offs, wage-cuts, freezing of increments, cancellation of bonus, etc. There has been increase in home and vehicle loan defaults and the middle class is slipping into lower middle class slowly. The slump seen in sale of automobiles and electronic goods is mainly due to shying away of the middle clas.

The middle class has to be patronised and in the short term by rescheduling their loans and also by encouraging them to take up small business activities as secondary avocation. If rules of employment stand in the way of taking up additional employment, they should be relaxed to facilitate this

Mumbai

This refers to ‘Injecting urgency’ (May 20). The Centre has to think out-of-the-box to increase vaccine supplies since global tenders by some States may not work to the desirable extent. Notably, several States have put out global tenders for vaccine supplies notwithstanding the reported fact that there is no spare vaccine capacity available with any of the producers across the world.

The ball lies in the Centre’s court and it ought to connect all missing links and fill the nationwide gaps on vaccine supply, apart from quickly addressing the avoidable anomalies on the price front. In fact, proper coordination between the Centre and States remains key to putting up a joint fight against the virulent coronavirus.

Bengaluru

Every day, new constraints emerge impeding the progress of the vaccination drive. Despite manufacturing millions of does per month, the demand far outstrips supply. As rightly pointed out, revival of units manufacturing other vaccines is the need of the hour. This approach could reduce the dependency on time-consuming formalities such as seeking IPR waiver, etc. However, the Centre must ensure that paucity of funds should not become an hindrance at any point of time.

Chennai

Apropos ‘Indian coffee crop may rise 5 per cent next season, says USDA’ (May 20), admittedly any prediction based on copious pre-monsoon showers may prove to be erroneous, if the rainfall pattern in the last three years is any indication. The yield of coffee crop depends on various agronomic and climatic factors. Therefore it is too premature to make a forecast on the crop output, although a prediction would be convincing if carried out at the conclusion of the monsoon, which has proved unpredictable since 2018.

Halekere Village, Karnataka

Termed as one of the most powerful in recent decades, Cyclone Tauktae had left a trail of destruction in States like Kerala, Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra before making a landfall in Gujarat. Despite advancements in weather forecasting aids, evacuation of people from vulnerable areas and destruction caused to physical infrastructure still remain a cause for concern. Going forward, the Central/State governments must focus on developing disaster-resilient infrastructure in both rural and urban areas.

Sholavandan, TN

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Send your letters by email to bleditor@thehindu.co.in or by post to ‘Letters to the Editor’, The Hindu Business Line, Kasturi Buildings, 859-860, Anna Salai, Chennai 600002.

COMMENT NOW