Sustainably Rebooting the Economy post COVID-19 – the way forward

Initiate sustainable distributed development across the country so that migrant labourers find sustainable employment closer home

New Delhi: present all the Metros and Mini Metro cities are exploding as RED infection ZONES with densely packed slums of migrant labour making social distancing and hygiene a pipe dream. Since all the economic activity and employment opportunities are located in the Metro and Mini Metro cities, it is becoming nightmarish for the government and authorities to contemplate on ways to unlock the economy.

Ashutosh Vasant, Director RailTel, a CPSU here in an exclusive piece written for TheNews21.com talks of the challenges that lie ahead and ways and means to revive the economy.

Ashutosh Vasant calls for initiating and pushing sustainable distributed development of economy across the country. For example consistently dividend paying and consistently debt free CPSU, should stand SHIFTED to GIFT (Gujarat International Finance Tech City), the dream project of Hon.PM Narendra Modi to make GIFT the Financial capital of the world. He argues that if employment opportunities are shifted or located nearby the places of residences of the migrant labourers, then they will not migrate to metro or mini-metro cities in search of employment.

The Biggest challenges staring the country on date:

Under-fed and starving the deserted migrant labour in lakhs are left stranded in Metros and Mini Metro cities or in transit back home – a ticking infection bomb with strains reaching unexpected remote corners of the country and the associated political nightmare.

All Metros and Mini Metros are exploding as RED infection ZONES with densely packed slums of migrant labour making social distancing and hygiene a pipe dream.

The fear factor of contracting the infection is what is preventing starting of economic activity in RED ZONES. The fear factor is making that much impossible to productively engage the youth. It sends shivers to the industry and the government of continuing to manage paying salaries and feeding millions free, without work  

The possibility of a second wave of massive infections with the migrant labour returning to back to the Metros and Mini Metros in hordes on opening of the lockdown. All the economic activity and employment opportunities are located in the Metro and Mini Metro cities.

Will it be return of the terrible traffic congestions and maddening pollution levels in Metro and Mini Metros with people adopting personal transport shunning public transport post opening lockdown in the fear of catching infection?

One shot solution to address all above concerns:

Initiate and push sustainable distributed development of economy across the country. This will ensure that Metro and Mini Metro cities no longer remain the only source of economic activity and thus centers of employment opportunities. The Migrant labour and prospective employees thus get jobs, business, and employment opportunities closer home and do not face the filth and squalor of slums to survive in metro and mini metro cities that repeatedly throw up massive pandemics.

 An effective, efficient, sustainable and immediately doable solution:

SHIFT the Decision makers or purse string controllers i.e. the CMD and Board of Directors of ONLY CASH RICH PROFITABLE CPSUs to one NEW SMARTCITY each (174 Profit making CPSUs on date with total cash surplus of around Rs.3 lac Crore)

Their vendor partner ECO system will follow them for pure business reasons to these new SMARTCITIES.

This kick starts investment in infrastructure, logistics, education, retail, health, entertainment, connectivity etc driven by pure economics because of well-paid consuming population now appearing in each such NEW SMARTCITY

We thus create 100 BOOMING CENTERS of economy across India.

Each such setup will offer gainful employment to the local youth, who no longer need to choke and block the Metros. They will find employment or business opportunity within 100 km range of their habitat.

With source of employment close to catchment area, we will solve the problems of massive influx of migrants ,  stretched infrastructure in Metros, reduce rising crime rates due to such under employed, frustrated youth in metros, reduce pollution , congestion and linked  loss of productivity in metros  and move forward  towards creation of a HAPPY & HEALTHY INDIA.

Proof of Concept

As a Proof of Concept, purse string controllers i.e. CMD and Board of Directors of RailTel Corporation of India Ltd, a Mini Ratna Telecom CPSU and the only market facing CPSU under the Ministry of Railways which is consistently profitable, consistently dividend paying and consistently debt free CPSU ,should stand SHIFTED to GIFT (Gujarat International Finance Tech City), the dream project of Hon.PM to make GIFT the Financial capital of the world.

RailTel with its reliable and secured pan India optical fiber network providing access to 70% of the country’s population, will provide access to GIFT to the nation’s consuming population and provide IT, ICT and Telecom services to the occupants of GIFT.

RailTel being the World’s biggest public WiFi operator on date, will provide traction to the IT/ICT/ Fintech players to look at GIFT as a business destination to associate with RailTel for Data monetization.

RailTel now being entrusted with Modernization of Railway Signaling and Telecom, a project worth Rs.1 lac Crore, will attract the world’s best Signaling and Telecom vendors to GIFT to design, develop, manufacture and export the technologies to the world, creating the needed vibes at GIFT to spring forward.

RailTel itself will get benefitted with these enhanced business opportunities of serving the occupants of GIFT (50 brokers, 26 Banks, DIIs, FIIs, IT companies, BSE, NSE, Educational institutes , Hotel chains etc & growing),  reduced cost of operations with reduced cost of property, rentals, medical, CCA ,HRA, logistics , travel cost for its employees as compared to any Metro , improved productivity with walk to work culture for its Corporate office employees and efficiencies of scale by developing a centralized NOC, CNOC in GIFT for its country wide operation at lower TCO (Total Cost of ownership) with 24×7 SEB power .

In turn, this sets the tone for 100 such cash rich & profitable CPSUs to replicate the move to one NEW synergistic SMARTCITY each across the country and solve the above listed problems.

Ashutosh Vasant is the Director of RailTel a CPSU, a Signaling & Telecom arm of the Railways