Staying at home during COVID-19 - A Bane or Boon (English)
(Maximum 500 words) essay writing
Answers
Explanation:
The Covid-19 pandemic is going to change many things and create a new normal. Lifestyles will change, people will become more health conscious, masks and hand sanitizers will become part of routine life. What more is in store? As a citizen, one must evaluate the upcoming opportunities and challenges.
It is said that that industry dynamics might turn favourable to India. Media reports state that in the coming days, India might get big opportunities to attract investors. Approximately 1000 foreign firms are viewing India as an alternate manufacturing hub, and 300 of them are already actively pursuing proposals. This is an optimistic scenario based on India’s resilience to the pandemic so far, its young population, and availability of manpower at all levels, all of which might drive growth for a lot of industries.
Ideally, the West would be the source of capital and the East, an investment hub. In the East, India looks like a bright option compared to other countries. The Government of India has enthusiastically come up with schemes such as Start-up India, National Skill Development Mission and Make in India, and Indian youth has responded well. In the 4-5 years since these schemes were launched, the number of start-ups has increased.
However, every business has its own gestation period, and just when some of these new businesses were settling, the pandemic struck, demotivating them at a very initial stage.
The government has the upfront task of coming up with a stimulus to start-ups and MSMEs (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) which will play a crucial role in reviving the economy.
Coronavirus images
Government has a huge task of reviving the economy after the pandemic is over.
The government has already announced one such stimulus; it has parked a package of Rs. 50000 crores with NABARD, SIDBI and NHB for agricultural and rural development, MSME, and housing sectors, respectively. Industries can avail of funds through SIDBI, which has received Rs 15000 crores. However, MSMEs are expecting stimulus in different forms, which will result in greater ease of doing business.
One of the issues MSMEs face in day-to-day operations is managing cash flow, for which they borrow money from banks and incur borrowing costs. The Reserve Bank of India, from time to time, tries to reduce interest rates by deductions in repo rate.
Consequently, banks and NBFCs are expected to reduce interest rates while lending money to borrowers, however, banks especially are not able to reduce interest rates drastically as the receiving interest rates on savings and FDs are handsome in India.
India’s tax system is among the most complicated ones in the world. While the GST is a welcome step to come at par with developed countries, it is not enough. Lax laws and provisions make it difficult to operate at times leading to litigation, and diversion of a handful of resources to the latter.
The government is expected to tackle these issues in order to form an environment conducive for the bounce back of start-ups and MSMEs. In the coming years, a good proportion of liquidity along with the plan is important.
India is not the only option for investors; many other countries are looking to attract foreign firms. India has its strengths, but also needs to address many challenges if it is to convert proposals of foreign firms into actual functioning in the country.
I believe this is the time for India to reset the entire system. This is the best opportunity in the last few decades to grab a share of the global market. Once this opportunity is lost, it will be lost forever.
Despite the aspiration of hosting foreign firms in India, one needs to understand that agriculture and MSMEs are the backbone of Indian economy. This mixed economy has always been a blessing for us; in times of recession, agriculture has helped India sustain domestically and proved to be a self-sustainable mechanism for India, while MSMEs contribute 7% of India’s GDP and account for 45% of India’s total manufacturing output and 40% of our exports.
More than 50% of the Indian work force is employed in agriculture and it contributes 17-18% to country’s GDP. India’s arable land area of 159.7 million hectares (394.6 million acres) is the second largest in the world, after the United States. India is among the top three global producers of many crops, including wheat, rice, pulses, cotton, peanuts, fruits, and vegetables. Hence, the government must give a boost to agriculture.
To bring agriculture out of the traditional market structure, it must create a chain from big corporates to farmers. Corporates can provide the cold storages, warehouses, and other required infrastructure which India currently lacks. India must turn agriculture into a powerful business and integration of the corporate sector with agriculture is the need of the hour.
Answer:
Staying at home during COVID-19 - A Bane or Boon
If the huge impact of coronavirus spread on the economy at large, including the loss of wage work to millions of those in the unorganised sector aside, the lockdown measures being implemented by the State government as part of the nation-wide shutdown have come as a blessing in disguise to the two power distribution companies running in losses.
With a major section of commercial establishments such as malls, cinema halls, restaurants and bars, showrooms of all sizes and public transport such as metro rail completely shut, service sectors such as banks, IT and ITES companies curtailing their on-site functioning by allowing as many employees as possible to work from home and many State and Central government offices running with skeletal staff, the demand for energy in the State has been on the slide for over a week now.
Merits
• Firstly, the containment helped in reduction of COVID cases in our country. Government has imposed strict rules and regulations to reduce the spread or transmission of this deadly virus from one person to another. Death rate in India is 2.8% whereas global death rate is 6.5%.
• The second advantage is reduction in pollution due to the decrease in usage of vehicles. Satellite images and other data collected by various countries prove this. There is reduction in air traffic making the sky clearer.
• Animals are freely moving on the roads due to minor traffic and also due to peaceful climatic conditions. We can also hear the birds chirping early in the mornings which takes us back in time.
• There is also reduction in accidents and loss of lives during this lockdown period.
• Crimes like murders, rapes, robbery, theft etc have also come down due to the less chances of people coming onto the roads.
Demerits
• Economic crisis would be the first and foremost disadvantage post lockdown. The economy of our country will go for a toss as revenue is not being generated fully and this would largely affect the daily wage labourers and middle-class people. Unemployment is very much prevalent in our country during the corona pandemic crisis.
• The cases of domestic violence have also reportedly increased as the women children and also elders are being subjected to domestic abuse at their homes. Not only women but also men, elders, children and LGBT people are being constantly harassed at homes by their own family members.
• There are also chances of adverse effects on mental health due to stress with regard to health, career and survival in general. This might lead to occurrence of hypertension or any such disorders in the people.
I consider that this lockdown is neither a boon nor a bane, but it has taught the humanity a little bit of tolerance and resilience.