Bajaj Auto MD Rajiv Bajaj on Tuesday said that the coronavirus lockdown in India was not a “long term” solution. Speaking to CNBC TV18 in a telephonic interview Bajaj opined that the lockdown was “arbitrary and not an answer to the economic crisis” and said that India should ahve opted for a selective lockdown, rather than a “sweeping general lockdown”.
“As far as the health or medical problem is concerned, we know very well that the lockdown is not going to be the long term answer,” he told the publication. Bajaj said that while there was talk of flattening the curve, this was not a concept that he subscribed to in its entirety.
“All evidence globally suggests that the young and healthy do not need to be ‘flattened’, they need to go back to work,” Bajaj said. He added that a selective lockdown to aid the older and vulnerable people.
Speaking of the economic crisis that the country now faces, he added that the lockdown was “certainly not an answer”. The lockdown had greatly affected the auto industry, so far creating large scale job losses and pay cuts for employees, as well as forcing companies to enforce cost cutting measures wherever possible.
“I think job losses have already happened. You just have to speak to suppliers and dealers. The government is pretending as if there are no job losses and no salary cuts,” he opined.
This is not the first time that Bajaj has expressed a similar opinion. Earlier in April, he had written an article for The Economic Times where he emphasised that India should have focused on keeping the vulnerable at home and closed public spaces, rather than enforcing a pan-India lockdown that affected everyone.
“I don’t buy the condescending argument that all Indians are a bunch of illiterate, ignorant, indisciplined morons who need cattle-like shepherding,” Bajaj had written.
