A double whammy is a two-fold setback when two unpleasant things happen at once. For the people of Meghalaya and the country as a whole it has been a multiple whammy with disease, poverty, loss of income and loss of social and emotional pillars. On the livelihoods part only about 2.6 percent of Meghalaya’s population is employed in the State Government. A miniscule number work in banks and central PSUs or in the private sector. This leaves a huge number in the informal sector. These are the farmers, daily wagers (labour, domestic help etc) and self-employed (street vendors etc). All three forms of livelihoods are precarious and subject to all kinds of vagaries, from arbitrary closure due to law and order problems to uncertainties caused by nature, particularly with climate change playing havoc.
The plight of the majority of Meghalayans therefore is unimaginable when a pandemic such as the present one strikes and all livelihood earning activities come to a sudden halt. Consider the agony of a head of the family who is also the only earning member but who is jobless due to the lockdown and that same person contracts Covid and needs hospitalisation. Who does the person approach for financial assistance to meet the subsistence needs of his/her family? And while the Meghalaya Health Insurance Scheme (MHIS) does give some cover for hospitalisation and other charges but there are several unforeseen expenses not covered by the Scheme. The insurance cover is up to Rs 5,00,000 per family on a floater basis meaning that total amount can be used by one person or jointly with other members of the family. While the MHIS provides some relief in terms of health needs, people need more than that at this point and that is the weekly payment which should take into account the family size and the inflation rate in Meghalaya.
It is this agonising financial pressure which has triggered a public outrage, questioning the Government’s call for a total lockdown without considering the plight of the large section of people who are not in the “work from home,” category. This group has called for a peaceful demonstration on June 1. Government should have anticipated such a reaction if it has its ears to the ground. Poverty in Meghalaya has been on the rise and the lockdown has only exacerbated this destitution. With the Deputy Chief Minister expressing helplessness to assist those who have lost their livelihoods, it is but natural that people would be agitated. The Government has to find ways and means to assist the poorest at this juncture. It cannot plead helplessness.
