06 OPINION THE TRIBUNE

CHANDIGARH | SATURDAY | 12 JUNE 2021

Middle class on shaky ground

THE TRIBUNE established in 1881
The average household income has gone below the lowest point of 2019
refrigerators, washing machines,
microwave ovens, smart TVs and high-
end smartphones. They are the ones

Higher education uptick who eat regularly at restaurants or go on

holidays. They spend on high-speed
broadband services, DTH and OTT, and
Positive sign, but focus has to be on preparing for jobs shop heavily online. They also invest in

T
mutual funds and take loans to buy
HE 2019-20 report of the All India Survey on Higher Education, AUNINDYO CHAKRAVARTY
homes. Job security is essential to make
that provides key performance indicators, puts the total enrolment SENIOR ECONOMIC ANALYST these expenditure decisions.
in the country at 3.85 crore: 1.9 crore male and 1.89 crore female If this class loses its consumer confi-

W
students. There has been an overall growth of 11.4 per cent in the last five E have enough evidence dence, a big part of India’s organised
years; female enrolment during the period has gone up by 18.2 per cent. to show that the Covid manufacturing and services sector will
The number of institutions of national importance has increased to 135 pandemic has left most be hit. Data on consumption decisions
from 75. The continuous rise in enrolment, number of institutions and Indians poorer. Even the suggest that this is already happening.
gender parity in higher education signals a positive change, yet the find- recovery that we saw in October last CMIE’s latest CPHS sweep shows that
ings call for detailed scrutiny, more so in light of the shrinking job mar- year barely managed to put an average COVID EFFECT: The proportion of the poor rose from 22% in 2019 to 39% in 2020. the intention to buy consumer durables
ket. More young people choosing to pursue higher education is a wel- Indian family on a par with where it Even the cream of India’s employees does not feel secure in their jobs. PTI dropped sharply in the first four months
come sign, but not in the absence of clear career goals and guidance. was two years ago. CMIE’s latest data of 2021, compared to the same period
shows that even in January, when last year. In January-April 2020, roughly
Female participation in professional courses is lower in comparison to
many believed India had defeated the
About 100 million people lost their jobs in the beginning of the 20 lakh households planned to buy a TV
academic courses at both the under-graduate and post-graduate levels; the
share of girl students is lowest in institutes of national importance. The
coronavirus, the average household pandemic — roughly 25% of those who had work in 2019. set. One year later that had dropped to
income was below the lowest point of less than 7 lakh households. Similarly,
trend needs intervention. The pandemic has brought to the fore the need 2019. Pew Research estimates that the those who intended to buy refrigerators
for having a lot more of the skilled workforce in the critical healthcare sec- number of poor people in India more The report says that an additional 230 apparent anomaly can be explained if dropped from 23 lakh households to less
tor and allied services. Encouraging and preparing students for tasks that than doubled last year. million people fell below the ‘national corporates have used the pandemic to than 7 lakh. Those planning to buy
require intensive learning and training, and for which the demand is only This is likely to be an understatement, minimum wage’ threshold of poverty. let go of senior high-cost employees, washing machines dropped from 30
going to increase, is one way to course-correct. Research and cutting-edge since Pew Research made its projec- In absolute terms that means that the promoting those in the middle to sen- lakh to just above 3 lakh.
learning, too, have to be exponentially incentivised. Financial constraints tions based on income distribution data proportion of poor people rose from 22% ior positions without a commensurate These are clear signs that India’s con-
cannot be allowed to come in the way of India’s brightest. from 2011. CMIE’s data, analysed by in 2019 to 39% in 2020. In the middle of pay hike, and employing younger suming classes are facing an unprece-
A healthy aspect of the report is the number of institutions maintain- economists from Azim Premji Universi- all this, India Inc made record profits. people at low salaries to fill vacancies. dented crisis. The difficulty of getting
ing a playground: 89 per cent of universities, 92 per cent of colleges. ty, shows that income inequality By the beginning of this year, the best- Of course, the situation might have jobs, the low pay if one manages to get
Around 94 per cent of universities, 98 per cent colleges and 98 per cent increased in 2020. Their ‘State of Work- placed corporate employees saw a slight changed from April, when the second work, the long hours resulting from
standalone institutions have library facility, though nothing less than 100 ing’ report tells us that labour’s share of improvement in their situation. CMIE’s wave began, when several corporates reduced bench strength in every office,
GDP dropped from 32.5% in 2019-20 to latest wave of its Consumer Pyramids announced that they were downsizing. and job insecurity, is going to have a
per cent makes sense. For PhD, 2.02 lakh students are registered, but only
27% in the middle of 2020-21. Nearly half Household Survey shows that the num- One estimate suggests that the total long-lasting effect on how an entire
26.73 lakh have enrolled for diploma courses, that too mostly in teacher
of those who had salaried jobs in the for- ber of 'company employees’ who work number of white-collar jobs dropped generation approaches their economic
training, nursing and technical streams. Again, not so encouraging fig- mal sector moved into informal jobs. in offices increased from 10 million to 11 by 24% to less than 14 million between life. This is especially so because the
ures; jobs have to be at the core of the pursuit of higher education. About 100 million people lost their million in the first four months of 2021 April 2020 and this April. Jobs portals Covid-induced recession comes on the
jobs in the beginning of the pandemic, compared to last year. On the other suggest that hirings declined by 15% back of a decade of economic slow-
which was roughly 25% of those who hand, company employees who work in April-May compared to the previous down. About 30% of those employed
had work in 2019. Even at the end of outside offices — factories, construction two months. A recent report shows a today have not witnessed the boom

Poor vaccination rate 2020, 15 million people couldn’t find

work. Those who did get employed
had to settle for lower pay. CMIE’s
sites, retail outlets, laboratories, deliver-
ies, running errands — declined from 41
million to 36 million in the same period.
hiring pick-up in the last two weeks of
May. This see-saw in white-collar jobs
shows that they have become
period of the early 2000s, and have nev-
er experienced a ‘wealth effect’.
Job insecurity and financial uncer-
Need to maximise gains by focusing on priority groups data shows that average incomes We would probably be right in extremely unstable. It is difficult for tainty also have a profound effect on

G
bounced back in October 2020. But assuming that a significant propor- even the cream of India’s employees people’s personality. Both breed fear,
OVERNMENT data showing vaccine coverage below the even here inflation took away most of tion of ‘white-collar’ jobs would be to feel secure in their jobs. That also promote obedience to authority, and
national average for both priority groups — health and front- the gains. The report shows that an concentrated amongst those working means they will find it difficult to suppress innovation. They also create
line workers — in Punjab and Haryana is a cause for concern. average worker’s real income dropped from offices. CMIE’s data shows that make any big spending decisions. a predisposition towards accepting
Though the Covid vaccination drive for health workers began in by 17% in September-October 2020, the number of such ‘office’ workers White-collar employees, along with autocratic behaviour from one’s boss-
mid-January, in Punjab, as late as May-end, as many as 28 per cent compared to the same period a year remained stable throughout 2020 and successful entrepreneurs, account for es. In the social sphere, they promote
of them were yet to get even the first dose. It’s a poor show, given ago. Self-employed people were the increased in 2021. Yet, anecdotal evi- the bulk of India’s buying classes. They patriarchy, traditionalism and author-
that the national average for the first dose administration in this worst hit, but even those with perma- dence and news reports suggest that make up less than 5% of India’s popu- itarian politics. This is the ‘long-term
category is 82 per cent. In fact, Punjab lags behind in vaccinating nent salaried jobs saw a 5% decline in many such jobs were lost during the lation. These 14-15 million households effect’ of Covid that we are doomed to
the 45-plus age group also, with its first dose coverage being just their real ‘inflation-adjusted’ income. peak of the first wave last year. This buy cars, air-conditioners, double-door suffer for several years to come.
30.04 per cent against the countrywide mean of 33.7 per cent.
These gaps in the inoculation of the priority groups flag certain chal-

Elaborate vistas of monumental glory

lenges and the need to focus on surmounting them for deriving optimal
immunity benefits. While initially, vaccine hesitancy, stemming from
scepticism and fear of adverse side effects, was the main cause of the low
turnout, the vaccination pace has slackened further in the past few
weeks due to a shortage of jabs. Though Punjab has infrastructure to Mina Surjit Singh the autocratic regime in heaven, built at justly reprehensible. seems a furtive attempt to pull
administer three lakh doses a day, the supply chain permits just 60,000- the suggestion of Mammon. However, The ambitious Central Vista Rede- down everyone and everything,

W
70,000 doses. Studies indicating less severity of Covid-19 infection and HEN Pliny the Elder, the as the name suggests, it remained a velopment Plan— a complex touted including the stately ceremonial
zero mortality among those fully vaccinated should motivate all those great Roman philosopher, place of utter darkness devoid of as much for its aesthetics as for being boulevard of New Delhi, which acts
having apprehensions about the shots to queue up for the doses. referred to the Egyptian order or moral light. a huge source of employment — as a reminder of India’s past subju-
The state governments need to consider evidence-based flexibility in pyramids as “idle and frivolous pieces While one acknowledges that recon- which includes a luxurious residence gation and runs contrary to the
vaccine schedules as per the logistics available and various ongoing of ostentation of their resources, on struction and innovation in architec- for the PM, aims to redesign and present dispensation’s notion of its
researches. For instance, a latest report by health experts has flagged that the part of the monarchs of that coun- ture are important, is it ethical or even interconnect the ‘corridors of power’ rich religious and cultural tradition.
mass, indiscriminate and incomplete vaccination can trigger the emer- try”, he set into motion a whole reasonable to prioritise grandiose of India through underground tun- Much has already been said and
gence of mutant strains. It has suggested that at present, while those who process of thought on the utility or projects at a time when matters of nels and labyrinthine passageways, written about the Central Govern-
futility of raising such elaborate mon- greater urgency demand our possibly rife with intrigue. It propos- ment’s raison d’etre, yet its very
had coronavirus infection need not be inoculated, priority be accorded to
uments at the behest of a ruler’s resources, planning and attention? es to uproot and replace Lutyens’ mention remains a cause for
vaccinating the vulnerable and those at risk, rather than going for a pop-
whims or insecurities, arguing that When a nation ravaged by natural or and Baker’s legacy with media-shy national anxiety and dissent
ulation-wide coverage. To maximise gains, it has recommended a reduced there was great vanity in the construc- man-made calamities is struggling to Bimal Patel’s grand design, antici- against such wasteful expenditure
time interval for the second dose for areas with Covid surges. The vax tion of such humongous structures. stay afloat, when the rancid stink of pated to be played out in a Parlia- at the cost of the public excheq-
strategy could be further guided by mapping the vulnerability at the dis- Centuries later, the same idea found bodies burning in heaps or decaying ment complex where our chosen rep- uer. Meanwhile, amidst all this
trict level through repeated local-level serosurveys. While districts record- an echo in Milton’s imaginatively con- for want of proper burial clouds the resentatives will gather to engage chaotic reality, the towering Stat-
ing over 70 per cent seroprevalence were fit for a return to normalcy, those structed palace of gold in Paradise Lost. landscape, when the threat of a near either in vigorous desk-thumping or ue of Unity looks vacantly at the
with low levels required lockdowns and vax prioritisation. An alluring citadel of incomparable collapse of the medical infrastructure uproarious disorder. sad spectacle of a country whose
grandeur, ‘Pandemonium’ had been haunts the mind, the construction of Ostensibly conceived as a tribute to freedom the patriots had fought
conceived as a democratic alternative to a lavish monument to vainglory is our architectural excellence, it also for so valiantly and passionately.

❝ ❞
thought for the day letters to the editor
In the face of uncertainty, there is nothing wrong Messing with Lakshadweep punitive action against him may not diate corrective steps to remove the of remunerative price for their pro-
with hope. — O Carl Simonton Reference to ‘Lakshadweep conun- be called for. He and others like him bottlenecks and launch aggressive duce. Already the three agriculture
drum’; it is extremely unfortunate may need to be sensitised and edu- campaigns to allay the fears of indi- laws are hanging fire for repeal and the
that Lakshadweep, which is a pictur- cated, not punished and alienated. viduals in this category. Since com- farmers have been protesting for
esque archipelago of 36 islands, is SS PAUL, NADIA prehensive data would be available months. Under such circumstances,
on this day...100 years ago entangled in political turmoil after with the respective authorities how is crop diversification possible?
the new administrator and the former Congress must wake up regarding those vaccinated, the heads RAJ KUMAR KAPOOR, ROPAR
BJP minister in Gujarat, Praful Kho- Apropos of ‘Prasada’s defection’, the of the institutions should take it upon
da Patel, has pushed through a slew turncoat cited his change of heart themselves to persuade them for vac- Pensionary benefits
of new laws and regulations without because of incessant letdown by the cination. With gradual liberalisation The SC, vide its decision in Darshan
consulting locally elected representa- Congress leadership and the sworn of vaccine policy and ease availability Singh V/s State of Punjab, declared
lahore, sunday, june 12, 1921
tives, and thereby earning the wrath enemy till yesterday has become his of vaccines and the growing aware- that 214 employees of Punjab’s pan-
of the local Muslims who form the role model and inspiration. Simply ness about the potential benefits, chayat samitis and zila parishads,
A Misunderstanding. majority of the population in India’s put, all politicians treat voters as hopefully the situation shall improve who retired between May 11, 1995,
MAHATMA Gandhi seems to misunderstand the position of those who, like smallest UT. The local people fear gullible and therefore have gumption significantly in the coming days. and June 30, 1999, were eligible for
ourselves, have been asking that the course which the Government has that the new reforms under the pre- to justify the change of the goalpost. DINESH KUMAR VERMA, PANCHKULA pension. A few employees of these
followed in the case of the Ali brothers should be followed in all similar cases, text of ‘development’ will destroy That said, the Congress is unmoved by institutions who retired during this
including the cases of persons charged with promoting disaffection of a less their identity and culture, and ulti- such defections and as usual persists Paddy sowing period have not been included in the
violent character. What Gandhi says in effect is (1) that sedition stands on a mately impact the island’s primary to put up a brave face. The ground Paddy sowing is going on across Pun- list of beneficiaries. The Punjab
different footing to incitement to violence, and that while the latter is livelihood of fishing. All they want is below the Congress is slipping, but it jab and electricity is being given free to Government is requested that in
inconsistent with the faith of the non-co-operator, it is the duty of every non-co- a sense of tranquillity and belonging- continues to live in a fool’s paradise. farmers. Since paddy is a water-guz- order to provide socio-economic
operator to preach disaffection to the existing system, and (2) that the persons ness in the peaceful landscape, which Simply tweeting against Modi and zling crop, water is being pumped out security to aged persons, a special
concerned will not give the undertaking. The question, however, is not what should not be spoiled by acts initiated belittling the government will not daily, unmindful of the underground chance should be given to the
the persons concerned will or will not do, whether it is not the Government’s for cheap political gains. help. Now it is high time for it to come water table depleting very fast. Most retired employees of panchayati raj
duty to give them the same opportunity that they did give to the Ali brothers in RANGANATHAN SIVAKUMAR, CHENNAI out of slumber otherwise it shall be districts have already been declared institutions who have left out of the
this case. When the opportunity has been given, it will be for the former to consigned to history sooner than later. dark zones. Sangrur was the first one list for no fault of theirs. Some
consider whether they can or cannot avail themselves of it. If they cannot Too harsh a punishment DEEPAK SINGHAL, NOIDA but still paddy is being sown. New courts have directed the authorities
truthfully say that they did not intend to preach it, there is clearly no occasion Refer to ‘Bigotry in cricket’; a dis- tubewell connections are also being that when a court case is imple-
for them to express their regret for any words that may have escaped them in tinction must be made between Jabs for frontline workers released. The Centre as well as the mented after attaining finality, its
the heat of the moment or give an undertaking regarding the future. Nor is grave charges of systemic racism and The news report about below average state governments who are contribut- benefit ought to be extended to oth-
there any occasion for them to do either if, as is often the case, the prosecution younger players’ indiscretions. performance in vaccinating health- ing rice to the Central pool have been er similarly situated persons also.
is entirely wrong and the persons concerned used no words that can rightly be Robinson was 18 at the time of his care/frontline workers in Punjab and making a hue and cry for crop diversi- Thus, the pensionary benefit can be
interpreted as seditious. In this case they must go to prison. But it is just boorish tweets. Though that doesn’t Haryana is indeed disturbing, despite fication, but none could come out with extended to other similarly situated
possible that there may be cases in which men did say what they did not mean. offer him a free pass, unless investi- both states placed remarkably well in any remedial measures. Farmers may persons by generalising the deci-
Why should they not have the opportunity afforded to the brothers? Then gations reveal a continuing pattern of infrastructure, including health. It is be ready for diversification but they sion of the apex court.
there are the cases of those who are actually charged with violence of one kind racist and sexist behaviour, stern important that both states take imme- are hesitant because of non-assurance KARNAIL SINGH, BATHINDA
or another. These cases are clearly too of the same level as that of the Ali
brothers, for as in that case so in these, the issue is false. Letters to the Editor, typed in double space, should not exceed the 200-word limit. These should be cogently written and can be sent by e-mail to: Letters@tribunemail.com