Doctors hail lockdown extension, economists sceptical

PATNA: The extension of lockdown by 19 days, as announced by PM Narendra Modi on Tuesday, has evoked a mixed response from people in the city.
While doctors have given thumbs up to the move with an appeal to the government to increase testing for Covid-19, economists and industrialists have raised concerns over its impact on the economy of the state.
Ajay Kumar, vice-president of Bihar chapter of Indian Medical Association (IMA), said the extension of lockdown was the only way to save the country from the pandemic.
“The lockdown might affect the poor and the economy, but nothing is more precious than our lives and the government understands this very well,” Kumar said, adding the extended lockdown period should be used for conducting aggressive testing for Covid-19.
Industry bodies, however, raised concern over the extension of the lockdown. Bihar Industries Association (BIA) president Ram Lal Khaitan said, “I agree that there is no other way to combat the current crisis except lockdown, but its impact on the country’s economy can be catastrophic. How can businessmen give salaries to their employees when their businesses are totally shut? There are other expenses like house rent and electricity bills which the people are supposed to pay without any income,” he said.
Chartered accountant Subodh K Goel said the government should have extended the lockdown in a staggered manner. “Economic activities should have been partially resumed,” he added.
Shaibal Gupta, member secretary of Patna-based Asian Development Research Institute (ADRI), said the country’s economy was in a very bad shape even before the lockdown. “Bihar is less unaffected as it is not much integrated with national and international economies. However, the extension of lockdown during the Rabi crop harvesting season is not good for agro-based economy of Bihar,” Gupta added.
D M Diwakar, a social scientist and professor of economics at A N Sinha Institute of Social Studies, said the extended lockdown would lead to largescale unemployment, primarily in the informal or unorganized sector. “Lakhs of migrant workers have returned to Bihar and many are still stranded in other states without any income. All these people are practically jobless now and will find it difficult to get job for quite some time even after the lockdown ends,” he said.
Food processing units to resume operations: Industries minister Shyam Rajak on Tuesday said 193 food processing units and four cement factories have been allowed to resume operations in the state with riders. “These industrial units have been asked to keep their workers on their premises, give them food and lodging facilities and ensure social distancing and sanitization norms,” Rajak said.