Covid 19, Govt plans and its benefits!
A man, engineer by education and a college professor by profession, got into trouble, that arose due to Covid 19 pandemic. Students stopped going to college due to lockdown. College couldn’t afford to pay salaries to all the faculties and decided to let go of the ones who were not extremely important. He was one of them. Lack of job. Lack of opportunity to find another job in the same profession and the need to resolve the financial trouble to fulfill the basic need of his family, made him decide to choose a different profession. And he became a barber. But again, due to lockdown and the necessity of social distancing, he could not make it work and finally, losing all hopes, he committed suicide.
One of my friends, sold the furniture of his house to
get some money to survive through the pandemic, without job.
There are many such stories. All are suffered in this
pandemic in one or the other way. India has seen the largest migration of
people in this pandemic. People have travelled miles on foot to cross states to
go to their homes due to lack of the availability of public transport.
The world is in chaos and nobody is to blame. It is
nature’s call and all we can do is bent on our knees and wait till the storm
passes.
The government, in its own way, trying to curb the
loses of this pandemic. Whether they are about life, livelihood, health or
economy. Right now the Govt is being tested the hardest way. There is a lot to
do in a very less time without any prior warning and time to prepare for such
an event.
But there are certain things that could have been
handled well and still there are loopholes which are not allowing the common
people to get benefits from them.
The thing is, system is like a pyramid. Government sits
at the top of it. then comes bureaucracy, industrialists, rich, middle class
and so on. At the bottom of the pyramid are those who need the Govt the most in
such a case because they suffer the most.
Let us say that the Government plans are like water,
poured down from the top of the pyramid. And let us say that the Government is
doing that. But, is pouring the water enough? Or making sure that it reaches
till the bottom of the pyramid is also equally important?
I have a few questions in my mind about if the water
is really reaching the bottom of the pyramid or not?
Government urged people to lend a supporting hand in
this crisis. Many did that. One of them was Sonu Sud. He took it upon himself
to stop the migration of labors on foot and paid for their travel to their hometowns.
He was appreciated for his work by many. Of course his work should have been
appreciated. If we can’t actively do something for someone, we can at least
appreciate the one who is doing it. But then, out of the blue, some politician
raises fingers at him saying, what he is doing is not right and he has some
hidden agenda behind it. smiley!!!
He was spending his life’s savings, voluntarily, for
the benefit of people he didn’t even know. What secret agenda can be there? And
how could it be wrong?
Then, Government asked RBI to do something for the
financial crisis that people are going through. RBI announced Moratorium for
the period of Six Months to all those who are not able to pay the EMIs of their
loans in this pandemic. But RBI gave it on a Bank’s discretion to decide
whether to give a moratorium to their customers or not!
Now few of the banks have decided to not to give the
facility of moratorium to their customers. What is the use of this policy then?
Just because bank decided that they don’t need to give moratorium to their
customers, their customers suddenly get money to pay EMIs? Does it work like
that? If it is, then every customer would be happy, for their banks, to not to
issue moratorium. Smiley!!!
What is the use of the benefit of Moratorium if common
people cannot rip them?
I am getting calls from the NBFC that have lent me a
loan, since two months, to pay the EMI. I keep saying them, I want to avail the
facility of Moratorium. My business is hit severely in this pandemic. But they
are not ready to understand my condition. I went to their office and met their
Branch Manager. We had a long discussion about why do I need to pay the EMI and
how they are allowed to not to give me moratorium. I said, all that is fine. But
I have not earned a penny in last 5 months then how am I supposed to pay the
EMI?
He showed me his bank details and said that he is
suffering through the pandemic as well in terms of salary cut, and yet he is
paying his EMIs. I must have some savings from which I must pay the EMI or I would
be considered as the defaulter to the bank and my credit score would sink.
I really didn’t understand his logic. And I didn’t understand
what to say to that. I agree that he is getting salary cut. But he is still
getting paid. I have zero income since last 5 months! How can he compare
himself with me? So I just said, of course I have savings. But since last five
months they are depleting every day. Because even though the earning has
stopped completely, spending didn’t! And looking at the current situation, my
first priority is to survive through the pandemic making sure that I have
enough to spend on basic necessities. And paying EMIs doesn’t come into that.
Right now, making sure that I have ration is more important than my credit
score. And if you really want to compare yourself with me, then do not cash the
check of your salary for 5 months. And then come to me saying that you are
paying all the EMIs on time.
There is one more benefit of Government. Government
has announced a package of nearly Three Lakh Crores for the financial relief to
Small and Medium Businesses (MSMEs). The benefit is, if you have taken a loan
from any bank and if you are facing issues in this pandemic, then you can avail
another loan from your bank, which will be 20% of the loan amount that you have
on you. The best part is, this loan would be at a rate of interest of just 14%
per annum and you don’t need to start paying the EMIs for one whole year i.e.
you get a moratorium of 12 months. The EMIs would start after one year and you
would have to pay off the loan in 3 years after the EMIs start. That is one
great scheme. It is called, Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS).
But again, there is one small problem that I found out
when I went to avail the benefit of this scheme. My bank said that this
facility is available only to those who have not applied for moratorium! Smiley!!!
Now what I don’t understand is…
Those who have enough money to pay their EMIs even in
this financial crisis of Covid 19 are eligible to get ECLGS. And those, who
have suffered in this pandemic and not being able to survive in it because of
which they have taken moratorium are not eligible for the benefit of the
scheme. Why? And what is really the use of such a scheme then?
It is like, the Government is pouring the water from
the top of the pyramid but it is being absorbed somewhere in the middle of it
and nothing is reaching to the bottom of it. Whose fault is that? And how is it
beneficial to common people? And again, is it only important to pour the water
down or is it also important to make sure that the water reaches the bottom of
the pyramid as well?
What is the use of such policies which have such
loopholes which deprive common people to get benefited from them? Why couldn’t
RBI say that allowing moratorium to all those who want to take it is mandatory?
And why couldn’t government make sure that every person who is really suffering
in this pandemic should get the benefits of ECLGS?
Whose fault is that?
Thank you for reading the article. If you like my
writing, you can search for my novel…
I Don’t Need
Reasons. I Need You!
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