Sir,
I am writing in response to the article entitled `The lockdown has created a massive crisis of jobs and livelihood’ carried in the July 1-15, 2020 web-edition of MEL. It is an important article as it educates the rank and file of the party, as well as the working class and all those in the revolutionary camp on the devastating impact of the lockdown. It is worth recalling the main points of the article in bullet form as under:
- massive numbers of jobs have been lost in large scale industries and services, small manufacturing companies and commercial establishments and also in services,
- that wages have not been paid since April for large numbers of workers, and even those who were paid, had significant cuts,
- that there will be wage freeze across the board and also reduction in wages,
- that there has been no credible govt. information on the level of unemployment,
- that private surveys show very high levels of unemployment,
- that during the lockdown there have been staggering rates of unemployment in urbans as well as rural sectors,
- that the migrants returning to their homes have borne the brunt of the crisis, as they were unable to feed themselves and pay rent during the lockdown,
- that service sectors are yet to re-open,
- that hospitality, tourism, aviation sectors are teetering on collapse,
- that fall in income has depressed demand to very high degree,
- that the IT sector is expected to see huge losses, with cuts already beginning,
- that the crisis is being used by big capitalist companies to reduce their workforce,
- that no one is taking responsibility for the crisis and welfare of employees.
The article is also supplemented with very useful information in boxes on job losses in hospitality, aviation and retail trade, and in textile, automobile and real estate, as well as media and IT.
The main thrust of this article is to remind the rank and file of the Party as well as the Working Class is that the lockdown crisis has been used by capitalist to abdicate their responsibility as usual. The capitalists cannot be trusted to take care of the members of society. We must lead the struggle to take over the reins of power in society and ensure a future for all.
Sincerely,
A. Narayan
Bangalore