Vijay Kumar Gaba

 Wishing all readers a joyous New Year, and a brilliant 2021 ahead. Stay Healthy, Stay Blessed.

Top performers of 2020

In this last post of 2020, I would like to pay my tributes to those, who in my view are top performers of the year. Many readers may find it deeply personal view, totally unrelated to the investment strategy. However, I keep these at the core of my investment strategy. Without these performers, making any case for investing in Indian equities would be tough for me.

Migrant Laborers

One section of the population that has been hit the hardest by the pandemic is migrant laborers. These people mostly sustain on daily wages and have negligible savings. On announcement of lockdown, these people lost their livelihood, shelter and savings in no time. The uncertainty over resumption of normal life forced them to leave “unaffordable” cities and return to their villages. They got almost no support from the baffled and paranoid administration or industry. Numerous cases were reported where the workers walked hundreds of miles to their villages. One 15yr old girl famously carried her ailing father over 1200 kilometers on bicycle, from Gurgaon to their native place in Bihar. Unfortunately, all were not welcome in their homes also. In many cases the folks there saw them as competition and threat to the property.

The most commendable part of this story is that millions of distressed workers migrated back under severe stress and inhumane condition, but no significant episode of violence or looting was reported from anywhere in the country. To me it is a matter of great comfort. This indicate low probability of any major violent civil or industrial unrest in the country.

Women

The women, especially the working women who share the burden of running household with the men, also did a commendable job during the year. These women brilliantly managed the stress of managing household chores without any domestic help and significantly higher domestic workload, work from home, tighter budgets, stressed men and children. Numerous cases of domestic violence were reported against women, but they valiantly withstood all the pressures and performed way beyond their duty.

The quintessential Indian woman provides a strong pivot to the Indian economy. So long this pivot is unshakable, one can expect Indian economy and society to sustain.

Health workers

It is widely recognized that India is awfully short of qualified health workers. The ratio of population per health worker in India ranks amongst the lowest quartile of nations. The pressure on health workers during pandemic was incomprehensible. Nonetheless, the health workers across the country did a commendable job, risking their physical and social life. They tirelessly worked around the clock. They managed the deluge of patients and violent behavior of patient’s relatives rather brilliantly. The research workers toiled round the clock to develop the vaccine for deadly virus in record time. Many health workers reportedly caught the infection and lost their lives.

The availability of high quality health workers provides comfort. The enhanced awareness about their need and importance shall result in policy initiatives to improve their availability and accessibility. Access to affordable quality healthcare shall support the economic growth in next decade.

Learners

The lockdown impacted the students in the worst possible way. The schools were closed and students were forced to stay indoors. The corporate training programs were also impacted adversely due to mobility issues and paucity of funds. The pace at which the learners and trainers shifted to the digital medium is remarkable. Students even in remote areas were famously shown as making tremendous effort for adapting to digital teaching. Numerous people took advantage of lockdown and updated their skills using digital platforms. Thousands of learners reportedly took advantage of online courses offered by global universities like Harvard and upgraded their skill and knowledge base.

Though, it has temporarily increased the digital divide in the society with the lower economic strata feeling left out. Nonetheless, this has shown a path how India will be able to materially enhance its education, skilling and training initiative using digital platforms. The shortages of teachers and other resources will be obviated through affordable technology in next few years only. No one would need to go in expensive universities abroad just for the sake of acquiring knowledge. The global classroom has come to our digital devices. Nothing could be more encouraging for a growing economy.

Deliverymen

When the entire country was locked down and people were fearful for moving out of their homes, millions of deliverymen kept the country running. Risking their life, these deliverymen delivered essential items like food and medicine to every household even in the remote parts of the country.

These deliverymen form the backbone of the evolving retail trade. Ecommerce is inarguably the sunrise sector of the economy; and it cannot be imagined without deliverymen. One could find numerous workers who have been left redundant due to closure or downscaling of business, finding support in this occupation.

Unfortunately, this segment of the workers still remains mostly unorganized and exploitive. Hopefully we shall see the Ecommerce policy taking note of critical role played by this segment, and provide for their better social security and working condition.

Chart for the day

Some food for thought

“It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

—Jesus Christ (Spiritual Leader)

Word for the day

Amity (n)

Friendship; Peaceful harmony.

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