Coronavirus, which has taken the world by storm, is not only killing people but making the life of the living people worse than hell, especially for the middle-class salaried people of India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a 21 day lockdown period countrywide, which means no production unit, company, or even a small office will be operational in any private or public industry. It was announced, keeping in mind the safety of the citizens of the country as self-isolation will mitigate the widespread infliction of the virus.
However, it has turned out to be a hell for the salaried people. Reports have emerged that many small and medium-sized companies in Immigration, Textile, and Hospitality have relieved employees, but without any pay. The immigration industry, which is facing significant challenges due to the Corona outbreak, has laid off many employees, and those companies which have given leaves to the employees because of the 21-day Lockdown will not be paying 21-day salaries to their employees.
An employee from the immigration said anonymously that, “we are scared if the Lockdown extends for more than 21days how will we feed our families or manage expenses as our employer isn’t paying us for the leaves. It isn’t like we brought Corona to India, so why are my family and I paying the price?”
It is the same scenario in the Textile industry, where the production is at halt indefinitely, and the daily wage workers or salaried employees or the contractors won’t get paid as they are not working. The same is the plight of people working in the Tourism and Hospitality sector.
Where the multinational companies like Tata Group are paying two months' salary in advance to their employees, Amazon and Wipro are encouraging work from home without any salary deduction. The employees of the small companies are facing severe financial constraints and praying that the Lockdown ends soon. The question arises, how is it fair? When the government announced paid leaves for the next 21day lockdown period, then why are these companies not complying with the orders and not supporting their own employees?
