We are just done with half of year 2020, with a half of that, i.e. one full quarter of the year in a situation like never-before. It would be most comforting if we were able to tell, it would be never-after too. The lockdown that came upon us on March 25, 2020, was possibly the best intended thing at that time, as faced with a choice between lives and livelihood, lives take precedence. This was not the case a little over 100 years ago when Spanish flu killed about 15 million people in India. At that time, a lockdown was not even a distant possibility. The bubonic plague devastated the world for centuries, killing millions. Yet stopping trade routes across the seas was not even in consideration. What is so different today? What has changed? The answer must be “democracy”. All lives matter now. More than ever before.
Whether the lockdown in India was planned and managed well, whether the duration was most appropriate or could be shorter or longer can be debated till no end. These judgements are best left to history that has an undue benefit of hindsight. If the intent was to save lives, then it needs to be commended. Now, after ninety days of the world’s most brutal lockdown in parts and in sum, comes the question of revival of economy, i.e. the question of restoration of livelihoods. With this objective in mind, there are four clear priorities as a nation, that I can see. Containment of the disease, livelihood support for the most vulnerable, maintenance of essential household supplies & services and revival of the sliding economy. The 5 I s that the Prime Minister mentioned, fond of alliteration that he is, in a recent address to a CII Conclave; Intent, Inclusion, Infrastructure, Investment and Innovation; is very well meaning and goes some distance towards addressing these looming priorities. As I said earlier, we will require benefit of hindsight to sit on judgement on effectiveness of conversion of these I s from intent to execution.
Coming to specific priorities of my work domain, dairy being part of consumer staples, it is business near usual for us. Even in these very adverse conditions we have continuous, uninterrupted milk supplies, our factories are operational and our sales force is braving the odds to reach out to our markets. As it was with the onset of lockdown in end March, now as we approach 100 days of lockdown, our priorities continue to be; safety of our people, continuity of business and availability to our customers.
Safety: Safety of our employees is paramount. It is a non-negotiable item in our books. Firstly, we have maximised ability to work from home for those who can and who are advised to. We have implemented all necessary preventive measures such as mandatory and intermittent temperature checks, social distancing, fumigation and sanitization of vehicles and premises, on-campus isolation facilities, free board and food for all applicable etc. at all our milk collection centres, factories and offices. In addition, we have declared a hardship allowance for all who deserve, to ensure that the farmer to consumer chain is not broken.
Continuity: This adversity will live its life and go. But the business has to go on. Therefore, not for a moment have we lost sight of business continuity. Lives of lacs of dairy farmers and their families depend on us. We are procuring milk as usual, without any interruption to insure that the farmers’ income is intact and they survive the crisis well. Immediate future of our business depends on their well-being and how well they look after their cattle at this time. We are prepared for contingencies that may arise and taking all measures to insure that there is minimal or no disruption to our operations even in a very unpropitious scenario. This is also a time for us to prepare and plan for a post-COVID world that never was imagined and make adjustments to changed consumer preferences, product variants and product mixes.
Availability: Our commitment to customers stand firm even in adversity. We are available to end-use consumers, to ingredient buyers and to a number of resellers who have been patronizing us in the past. We are going that extra mile to fulfil their needs in this hour of crisis. We very well realise, some of our customers may be going through a far larger business impairment than we may be facing.
This is a crisis like no other. We are staring at a significant uncertainty over people’s lives and livelihoods. This makes the lockdown the worst recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s and far worse than the Global Financial Crisis of 2008. Need of the hour is to stay safe, keep others safe and keep the economy alive and well, till science offers a plausible remedy, which I hope comes sooner than later.
