This refers to the opinion article ‘Time to put economy back on the rails’ (29 December).

Even though a new variant of the Coronavirus has broken out, the number, of positive cases of COVID-19, is on a declining trend in India. That gives a sigh of relief to millions of people who have been suffering since the beginning of the year when lockdown was first declared in the country.

The pandemic has left uncertainty among the ordinary people especially the migrant workers who suffered a lot, and their lives were further jeopardized because of lack of funds to even meet basic needs.

There have been several initiatives of the government but they failed to get the intended results in helping the masses.  And then, after the pandemic the situation further aggravated due to stopping of the industries.  

The resumption of economic activities will certainly give some hope to people who are jobless and have been struggling for mere survival during the past several months.  Priority should be given to addressing the needs of common people which is the first community that suffers in times of calamities.    

To make matter worse, the economy will be hit hard due to the ongoing protests by a large number of farmers, mainly from the northern states which are the major agriculture producing states that supply grains and produce to the rest of the country.

Therefore, it is for the government now, in coordination with other state administrations, to bring the economy back on its track. It is equally important to analyse how effectively the economic packages can help the overall situation and what additional measures are needed to support small and medium scale industries that also contribute a lot in stabilising the country’s economy.

Ramachandran Nair
Muscat