Coronavirus Part 34, Prized Possessions

            It has been a 4^th straight week of covid-19 cases lessening in the country. The weekly average number of cases saw a drop from 1.3 lakh in previous week to 90 thousand this week. The daily cases are hovering around 90 thousand for the past few days which is a good progress in the fight. This is the number which has been seen in September last year. After a period of 9 months, average daily cases are hovering around 90 thousand once again. My residing state is gradually opening up with each successive phase adding more hours to the unlock timings. As on today, the state is unlocked for 12 hours and observing curfew for the remaining 12. The rest of the country can also implement these localised strategies to further curb the number.

            The southern states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh are contributing heavily to the list with around 60% of the case load. These states should be extremely vigilant whereas the rest of the country can look at the hope of bringing normal days back without holding tough lockdowns. If it can be remembered, there is no strict lockdown in September’20 but still the cases reduced for 6 months till March this year. Hence, there is no proven premise that costly lockdowns will reduce the case load further from these levels. Even with everything opened up, there is every probability that cases will hover at these dormant levels. The best way to arrest this totally is to vaccinate every eligible adult in the next six months to prevent a third wave. I will look to put vaccination numbers from my next post to track this all-important factor.

           In the rest of this post, I will talk about two important possessions which I have, that helped me to navigate and endure this hard pandemic. Those two are simply 1. A house to live 2. A job to work and earn money. Talking about the first possession, I cleared the house loan this month and yes, I am now a sole and proud house owner. Though I have some other loans, I no longer need to pay home loan EMI every month. I am freed from the bondage of home loan which is the long-awaited milestone of my life. Now I became a small achiever in my life to own a house. I look back at how long and how hard I strived to see this day since the last eight years. You are supposed to have some achievable targets and this has been my life’s ambition and goal since the last 8 years.

           Every country I went and every job I worked is to see this day as soon as possible. I worked to create a multiplier effect and not just limit to my own self. In other words, when I owned a house, I worked to inspire lakhs of others to own their own houses. I became a Yes-man by owning a house and I would like to make this country Yes-India where everyone has a safe house to live. When a person like me, with very limited tools can achieve this, then sky is the limit for everyone else in realising their aims and ambitions. If at all anything, this pandemic has bolstered me achieve my target by keeping me in-line of this work.

           To touch upon this subject, I hope every poor person in the country is provided a decent place to live. In a parallel world, 1 lakh 2BHK houses have been constructed by Telengana Governments Hyderabad Municipal body (GHMC) in 111 sites across the city since the last several years. The 1 lakh houses have neared completion and awaiting occupancy. This is a great step in ensuring dignity living for the urban poor. A few thousand beneficiaries have already moved into the new houses. When a home becomes a reality after spending years fighting rains leaking through thatched roofs and living inside four walls that can crumble any time, the sweetness in ‘home sweet home’ is beyond words. Especially when it comes without cost for people who struggle for a square meal a day. That is the beauty of the government’s 2BHK housing scheme, also known as Dignity Housing Programme, because it allows people who have been neglected by erstwhile governments for long to live with dignity.

           Similarly, in Andhra Pradesh, there is YSR housing scheme of the state government of A.P. which provides houses for the urban or rural poor. It is still in the early stages and aims to provide 30 lakh houses to the white ration card holders in the years to come. At the national level, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) scheme aims to simplify the process of purchasing a home for the urban poor and weaker sections through EMIs at reasonable rates of interest. The rate of interest is comparatively much lesser than commercial rates, thus offering people subsidised loans. These subsidised loans at very low interest rates are being offered to low-income people to give a sense of achievement by borrowing and repaying the loans through their own efforts.

           Coming to the second possession, I had a stable job with a source of income throughout the time of pandemic. I have been able to think over and above my own self and work for the greater good because of the job I am doing and salary I am getting. I have been able to help others in the pandemic and fight the virus because of the job I had taken for granted. If I am struggling for my own job and income, then the difficulties of the pandemic would have compounded upon me. Leave alone helping others, leave alone fighting the virus, leave alone writing these weekly blogs, leave alone the good work, leave alone repaying my house loan, leave alone my identity, leave alone helping many others get into their own jobs.

           I was able to feed myself three to four times a day and keep my stomach full, by virtue of the job. In many ways, the timely income and job provided me a security to do all the good work over the past few years. I am committed in ensuring every eligible individual get a good job by working as hard as I can and create many openings through a multiplier or ripple effect. I know the times when I felt the bliss upon receiving the offer letter since the time I was employed. But a harsh statistic due to the pandemic is India is experiencing its worst levels of unemployment in 29 years. India's unemployment rate sharply rose to 7.11 per cent in 2020 from 5.27 per cent in 2019, said a report by Centre for Economic Data and Analysis (CEDA) based on the ILOSTAT database of International Labour Organisation. It maintained a downward trend between 2013 and 2019, when it came down from 5.67 per cent to 5.27 per cent, but the last year saw a huge spike in unemployment. The 30-day moving average of the unemployment stood at 12.3% as of today. I know many people who struggle to eat properly because of unemployment. Let us all strive to lessen their agony. Let us provide every individual a means to sustain and grow himself.

           Despite the harsh reality of the pandemic throwing many individuals out of jobs, I am optimistic about the future based on my own ‘possessions’. If I can do so well in this time with respect to the job I have, I hope everyone will be eventually positioned to get placed in dream jobs. Similarly, everyone is positioned well to own a dream home. When I am working in a mission mode by owning these two possessions, everyone is bound to get benefitted by having a good place to live and a job to work.