These are difficult times for the governments
Published on : Saturday 04-04-2020
These are difficult times for the governments – the States and the Centre, healthcare providers, civic administrations, businesses and people from every strata of society – the rich and the poor.
However, as this edition goes to the press, it is the migrant labour in large cities that is weighed down, with disturbing news and visuals of hordes of people walking towards their villages, in some cases located thousands of kilometres away. A crisis of this magnitude is not easy to handle even for the developed world. What started in Wuhan – the capital city of Hubei province of China – in December 2019 has over the next three months spread globally like wildfire. The global village suddenly discovered it has no defence against this disease, now officially called Covid-19, and the virus that causes it, SARS-CoV-2. As of now, there is no vaccine, and the test kits are in short supply.
The Indian government, which was watching the situation keenly, announced a three-week nationwide lockdown on March 25th, the Prime Minister addressing the nation, explaining the gravity of the situation in a public address. Self-isolation and social distancing appear to be the best defence against further spread of the virus, which has affected almost one thousand persons and killed 20 so far in India. The global count is much higher at 614,884 cases and 28,687 deaths. While the threat appears to have receded from China where it began, Europe is bearing the brunt, accounting for more than half the deaths.
The damage will take time to assess, but according to a leading financial daily quoting Dun & Bradstreet’s latest Economy Forecast, the probability of countries entering into recession and companies going bankrupt has increased and India is not likely to remain decoupled" from the global meltdown. As Nigel Green, the chief executive and founder of deVere Group said in a release earlier in March, “Any way you look at it, it’s now almost certain that there will be a coronavirus-triggered recession as both global supply and demand are impacted.” The Indian government has announced several measures and relief packages, for people as well as businesses, with the Reserve Bank of India directing all commercial banks to mitigate the burden of debt servicing brought about by the disruptions on account of Covid-19 pandemic.
Amidst all this chaos, the April 2020 edition of Industrial Automation has featured the views of several business leaders about the crises facing the business world in general, Indian industry in particular. Automation in industry, as in other spheres of life, is likely to get a boost when the crises blow over and the world starts to rebuild again. That is how it should be. Technology must be put to use.
