The impact of the measures on the farming community, the poor and the lower middle classes was hugely underestimated by the political establishment, sundry pundits, the media and a large section of the untutored or sycophantic elite.
AT THE TIME OF WRITING, CHAOS CONTINUED to prevail at bank branches and ATMs across India, reflecting the larger truth that the government had for no sensible reason frozen a major part of India’s payments and settlements system. The government did this by declaring, for reasons wrong and indefensible, that currency notes of Rs.500 and Rs.1,000 denomination, which accounted for more than 85 per cent of the value of notes in circulation (and around 25 per cent in terms of sheer numbers), would not be legal tender within four hours of a dramatic speech by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the evening of November 8.
That speech was filled with a mix of threat and promise: once again the Prime Minster declared that “black money” would be sucked out of the system and trashed; that those earning black incomes, holding black wealth and involved in counterfeiting currency would be pursued and incarcerated for ruining the economy and oppressing India’s poor; and that the flow of counterfeit notes from across the border that fed domestic terrorism would be stopped. In a turn of phrase that began life under Modi as the label for a secret military operation but has become a way to describe his aggressive form of governance, politicians and the media began describing the policy as a “surgical strike” on the black economy.
This story is from the December 9, 2016 edition of FRONTLINE.
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This story is from the December 9, 2016 edition of FRONTLINE.
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How Not To Handle An Epidemic
The lockdowns were meant to buy time to put in place appropriate health measures and contain the coronavirus’ spread, but they have failed to achieve the objective and heaped immense misery on the marginalised sections of society. India is still in the exponential phase of the COVID-19 infection and community transmission is a reality that the government refuses to accept.
Tragedy on foot
As the COVID-19-induced lockdown cuts the ground beneath their feet in Tamil Nadu, thousands of migrant workers are trudging along the highway to the relative safety of their upcountry homes.
Sarpanchs as game changers
Odisha manages to keep COVID-19 well under control because of the strong participation of panchayati raj institutions and the community at the grass-roots level under the leadership of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
Scapegoating China
As the COVID-19 death rate spikes and the economy tanks in the United States, Donald Trump and his advisers target China and the World Health Organisation with an eye to winning the forthcoming presidential election.
New worries
Kerala’s measured approach to the pandemic and lockdown has yielded results. But it still has to grapple with their huge economic impact on its economy, which it feels the Centre’s special financial relief package does little to alleviate.
No love lost for labour
Taking advantage of the lockdown and the inability of workers to organise protests, many State governments introduce sweeping changes to labour laws to the detriment of workers on the pretext of reviving production and boosting the economy.
Capital's Malthusian moment
In a world that needs substantial reorienting of production and distribution, Indian capital is resorting to a militant form of moribund neoliberalism to overcome its current crisis. In this pursuit of profit, it is ready and willing to throw into mortal peril millions whom it adjudicates as not worth their means—an admixture of social Darwinism born of capital’s avarice and brutalism spawned by Hindutva. .
Understanding migration
When governments and their plans are found to be blatantly wanting in addressing reverse migration, exercises such as the Ekta Parishad’s survey of migrant workers throughout India can be useful to work out creative long-lasting solutions.
Waiting for Jabalpur moment
The Supreme Court’s role in ensuring executive accountability during the ongoing lockdown leaves much to be desired. Standing in shining contrast is the record of some High Courts.
An empty package
The Modi regime, which has been unable to control the COVID-19 infection, restore economic activity and provide relief to millions exposed to starvation, trains its sights on Indian democracy, making use of the panic generated by fear and a lockdown that forecloses paths of resistance.
