Stark inequalities
It is strange that the country’s leader who often tweets on a variety of subjects has not said much about the suffering of migrant workers. What then are the PM’s Relief Fund and the PM CARES Fund for? It is saddening to read about the sorry plight of workers who are almost experiencing trauma like people used to at the time of Partition — throats dry, stomachs empty and feet blistered; many may have never completed their journey. It may not be an exaggeration to say that had there been a general election round the corner, all the political parties would have come to the rescue of migrant workers, rolling out the red carpet with food packets and water bottles.
It is baffling that we, as a country, do not have verified data on migrant workers. As the present migrant crisis is ‘once-in-a-century’ phenomenon, we should learn a lesson or two and draw up a national policy on migrant workers. In a crisis in future, it should spell out who bears their transportation charges; who would pay them wages and provide them shelter and a comprehensive social package. The disparity between urban and rural workers must also be eliminated.
A. Jainulabdeen,
Chennai
The short notice at which the lockdown was announced and thereafter the time for everyone to get ready only appears to have caused more harm, agony and damage to the Indian economy, the labour class and normal daily businesses; there was inadequate preparedness. Money does not grow on trees and the advisers to the government have erred in this issue. Extension of the national lockdown in instalments only created panic and uncertainty in the minds of migrant workers and there was no stopping their wanting to return home. It is a national shame that High Courts had to express opinion on the plight of the migrant population.
C.P. Chikkanna,
Bengaluru
Mystical spinner
I was one of those countless parents in search of a good cricket coach on the eve of India’s World Cup euphoric triumph in 1983 in England. I took my young son to Bengaluru where, to my huge surprise, I saw Erapalli Anandrao Srinivasa Prasanna, post retirement, coaching youngsters. He was self-effacing and accessible. Standing at the bowler’s end and instructing the boys, he, without a run-up, bowled one ball towards the batsman’s end. I thought, seeing the flight of the ball, it was a full toss that would land near the batting crease. No, it was not to be. Three-quarters of the way, it suddenly dipped as if it had developed a sudden increased gravitational pull, landed on the good length spot just outside the off-stump and turned only that much to knock down the middle stump. He was the very personification of guile. Like Bishen Singh Bedi, he never hesitated to give the ball that extra bit of air to tempt a batsman to have a go at it. If one were to look into the record books, it would be evident that most of his victims were top or middle order batsmen around the world. He must have taken, given his inimitable craft, 100 more wickets in Test cricket but that was not to be. Cricket is essentially a batsman’s game and Prasanna was an unsung hero.
V. Lakshmanan,
Tirupur, Tamil Nadu
