Great Indian Middle Class

The year 2020 is beating us in the back for every good thing that we dreamt of it. Long days and nights, loss of lives and livelihoods, poverty and starvation, and global recession. The whole world is fighting the virus by using all the available resources. Governments around the world are given very hard choices — either to save lives or to shut the economy. Whatever the choice be, the impacts are profound. However, those countries which have tested aggressively earlier were able to contain the fatalities and infections. Also, those countries are at the forefront of opening the economy earlier.

Multiple voices are coming from all schools of thought — regarding the containment of the virus, management of the current crisis and the gradual opening of the economy. Both the federal and state governments should study the feasibility of all available options and come out with concrete steps to come out of this pandemic with minimum cost.

So here it goes.

The causation of this crisis is different. This time, it is a virus — a deadly one. But the problems are the same. Not unusual.

· Like every other crisis, poor are the worst hit

· Demand destruction and supply shock

· Assault on informal economy

· Loss of lives and livelihoods

· Shock to the financial system and businesses shutting down

· Governance and regulatory failures

Maybe this crisis has shed light on another problem — inefficient public health infrastructure, though it can be categorized as ‘governance failure’.

Among-st all, I have a sense of feeling that the least affected community in this crisis (if not all and particularly in India) is India’s most vocal and organic food-loving Indian middle class. Though it is small, never mind, its influence is so powerful that it holds the narrative of political and social actions. That is very much explicit during this crisis.

Consider, for example, the announcement of lock-down — the most stringent one in the world. Though the government of India took an unusually long time to acknowledge the seriousness of the virus, its announcement of lock-down is abrupt and heavy that even most state governments were unaware of it. How such a political decision was made with so little deliberation in a democracy? Because influential India’s middle class was easy enough to accept a narrative that lock-down is important and necessary to curb the virus, drawing inspiration from other countries and political master subscribed to it.

Before the expiration of the first lock-down, the federal government had an unusually long consultation with state governments regarding the extension. Perhaps, more interesting thing was that most of the states extended on their own even before the federal government did so. Why was the sudden change? Had the federal government learned an important lesson about the importance of consultation? Arguing against, one political scholar said that extension of lock-down had become unpopular then, and the federal government didn’t want to take blame only upon themselves. Again, here unpopularity is referring to India’s influential middle class, considering the first lock-down is unpopular amongst the poor.

Neither the influential middle class nor the government understands that lock-down is an exception, not a solution. Lock-down gives us time to isolate as many infected patients as possible to prevent the spread and to mobilize the resources efficiently to areas where it is required. India lost its first 21 days of lock-down without any action believing that simple lock-down alone would curb the virus. That loss is huge — both in terms of lives and livelihood.

We could feel the same pattern on multiple occasions among-st the middle class. When the government of India sent AI flights to pick up its stranded citizens across the globe, they cheered. When it came to the plight of migrant laborers, they sneered. They clanged plates and bells; they light candles and lamps; burst firecrackers; they perform social distancing because that is their norm always. And they understood the importance of labor only if it feels important for their lives.

Who are these people? There is no official definition of the middle class in India. Some studies suggest that anyone who earns $4 — $7 per day can be classified as middle class. If you are hard to find out who they are, count amongst them — all those who have a roof over their head, have running water and have some steady stream of income, however, small maybe, but without government intervention. And most importantly, these people portray faster Wi-Fi at railway stations, digital payments, bullet trains, etc., as the major achievements of the government. And they aim for them more.

Mostly, these people have completed their schooling on the socialistic state, benefited economically during India’s first-generation liberal economic reforms and thrived on some sort of consumerist model. Now, you could find them battling for spiritual importance, cultural revivalism, medievalism and some sort of religious supremacy. I am trying to explore their persona.

First. They strongly believe — their hard work is the only reason for what they are today. And when we ask about the plight of the poor, their instant answers will be lack of skills or hard work. Anyone who befriends hard work will be rewarded. But that doesn’t mean, it is the only reason. Three thousand years ago, some people worked several times harder than others, but they didn’t get rich or enjoyed any rights — just because they were slaves. The more important reason is public institutions — that provided the level playing field for them to grow. Instead of working for the deepening of these public institutions so that more poor people would use those opportunities to come up in the economic and social ladder, you could find these people boasting their hard work and fighting for religious or cultural revivalism.

Take for instance — the state of Kerala. It has emerged out as one of the model states during this crisis. It was able to fight effectively because it has an efficient public health infrastructure and strong local governments. They are not the only reasons — the main thing is that her citizens are politically aware, and they vouched for those reforms — starting from the abolition of social barriers to education for all.

Coming to revivalism — it is seriously dangerous. That would put a large number of people back to poverty. People should think progressively and pragmatically. Only with that, we can help to bring millions of people out of poverty. One of the main reasons for the revolt of 1857 was that the British wanted Indians to fight in foreign lands and Indian soldiers considered crossing seas as sacrilege. Even Gandhi was frowned upon by his community when he decided to go to South Africa. But that culture changed after that. Take again, the state of Kerala — today, most of her income is from foreign remittances. Who could have sensed that Muslim women — considered by almost everyone as disadvantaged — would hit the streets to protest an act? They received their inspiration from two Kerala young girls of Jamia Milia who tried protecting their friend from assault. It is much heartening to see women from the Muslim community studying in colleges and that too in a faraway place — surely a welcoming move.

Second thing. Indian middle class is no doubt largely philanthropic. They set aside a chunk of money for charity. They find it deeply moral to do so. Though some do with fanfare, most of them do privately. They donate for PM CARES fund, relief funds, donate food and blankets. So far so good. But they think their responsibility ended there. It is frightening to ask this question. They are donating money to the same set of people whenever there is a crisis. But they never asked the question — why weren’t these people able to come up on the ladder? Be mindful here — we are talking about absolute poverty, not relative. A single shock — even for a few days — will put their food, clothing, and shelter at risk.

If you ponder over this question anytime in your life, then the answer again goes back to lack of strong institutions — rule of law, functioning democracy, decentralized government machinery ensuring public goods to all, free markets, effective regulatory bodies, etc., Generally, public institutions are the reflection of the society. Take for instance the Supreme Court — enforcer of fundamental rights and protector of the law. Two different observations on the relatively same issue, but on two different times. In a recent hearing regarding the plight of migrant workers, none other than CJI queried why the migrant workers required money, if meals were being provided to them. This query is beyond shocking. Nevertheless, it was this same court during the 1980s in Olga Tellis vs Bombay Municipal Corporation made a remarkable observation — ‘what is the use of the right to life when there is no livelihood?’

The last characteristic of the Indian middle class — they have very easy solutions. Whenever there is a problem, they give instant and simple solutions. Mostly, they could fit within 200 words or sometimes as a length of WhatsApp message, easy enough to read. Surely, most of their solutions are directed towards the government. If it is corruption, please bring a law and bar politicians afflicted with corruption. If art is contentious, then ban it. If there is pollution, close the industry. If there is a virus, then lock the world. It is as simple as that. Unfortunately, most of these people belong to a group of elite engineers. Their curriculum and work are usually based on controlled closed environments with limited or finite degrees of freedom. Hence it is obvious that their solutions are simple.

But public policy is different. Its impacts are in multitude. It requires persons with inter-disciplinary knowledge and polymaths to arrive at a holistic approach. Sometimes, it requires procrastination for the solutions to be precise and elaborate. Procrastinating is the biggest enemy of the Indian middle class.

The major side effect of this ‘knows all’ easy solution approach is overconfidence with little knowledge, leading to the spread of fake news, communal poisoning, and fragile social fabric. Also, this is the characteristic which is neither allowing them to accept the opinions of others nor to listen to them. They are very proud of being in that bubble.

Long ago, I believed Indian mass media was the cause of many problems among Indian society. I gave up that proposition recently. After all, it is a business and it should supply what public demands. Hence, every time now I see someone shouting in English on a newsroom during a debate, I could visualize the plight of Indian middle class — the consumers who demand such content.

Behold! Once the crisis is over, there are huge chances that the Indian middle class may stick to new normal (or at least they say so) by supporting the government on restrictions, protectionism, surveillance, no financial packages or sometimes large-scale financial policies with no sunset clauses. It may not affect you. But it surely affects the poor.

Disclaimer: This piece is neither against any individuals nor against a community. It is for those while reading this explore themselves who they are, free to discuss/engage and are ready to change for better.