Dear Comrades,
Announcement of countrywide lockdown came as an expected shock to our countrymen but what followed was quite unexpected as everyone's hope that the Covid19 pandemic was a matter of weeks, if not days has been totally defied by now. And till now we have seen its gradual growth - unabated and continuous. Gloomy future of the world has started to surmount our hope of a corona free India in near future. Already struggling Indian economy received a big blow with temporary closure of the industries and institutions. Within a short span, we realised that we are not fighting with just one pandemic of Covid19 but also with the pandemic of "Greed, Corruption, Religious bigotry and lack of trust".
According to 2011 census, India had around 45 crore migrant labourers. We may speculate this figure around 65-70 crores as in 2020. This lockdown unexpectedly made all these labourers jobless while lockdown 2.0 and lockdown 3.0 made them penniless. Small Industry owners, start-ups, small entrepreneurs etc. also met with similar fate. We, the Government servants are among few privileged who have received our salaries though without DA increments. Most of us have voluntarily contributed to the PM Cares fund, many have also contributed through other possible modes and some are serving the needy directly or through some NGOs.
Our comrades posted at Ports, ICDs, Airports have prioritised their services to the country over their own safety/comforts and have facilitated exim clearances in the smoothest possible manner. Our comrades have been working from home at their own/borrowed laptops/PC/Printers/Smartphones with their own internet packages and ensured smooth functioning of GST and Customs works. We facilitated our clients through our uninterrupted services at a juncture when all the major cities of Gujarat where our main offices are located i.e. Ahmedabad, Surat and Vadodara have been declared as Red Zones.
But yes, in a demanding, strenuous, sensitive job like ours where we are always expected to perform under pressure, where we have to maintain balance between revenue generation and facilitation measures, this lockdown gave us an opportunity to realise that we have a family, we have some friends, we have a heart and we have faith. Isolation gave us a whole new perspective on family, friendships and society. It made us learn to share and care for the most underprivileged masses.
Covid-19 is not going to last longer than our faith, persistence and humanity. It will end sooner than later and as has been said extraordinary times require extraordinary efforts, as we head out of this pandemic we need to create a world full of love and care. A world where we are kind to each other irrespective of their class, race, sexual orientation or religion. Let's not judge the people at the other side because that may be us if things were just slightly different.
Post covid-19, our department may not be the same. Social and financial compulsions will make the government review the existing office procedures so as to make it more paperless and system based, which will prove not only beneficial to the government, assessees and general public but will also demand to discontinue our frequent transfer/placements/commuting and will require increased role of electronic interface. We may also hope to see discontinuation of all the customary obsolete reports. The erratic bosses will then be required to show reasonableness in their official actions. So let's trust the words of Sahir Ludhianvi :
"रात जितनी भी संगीन होगी,
सुबह उतनी ही रंगीन होगी,
ग़म न कर गर है बादल घनेरा,
किसके रोके रुका है सवेरा।"
"रात जितनी भी संगीन होगी,
सुबह उतनी ही रंगीन होगी,
ग़म न कर गर है बादल घनेरा,
किसके रोके रुका है सवेरा।"
In this unstable, feeble and insecure world let the humanity, positivity and sensibility prevail.
Long live our Unity.
Long live our association.
Comradely yours,
M.S. Prabhat,
General Secretary
