Draconian lockdown flattened the wrong curve: Rajiv Bajaj

NEW DELHI:  India’s draconian lockdown, which has impacted both lives and livelihood, flattened the wrong curve — not the infection curve, but the GDP curve, said Bajaj Auto Managing Director Rajiv Bajaj. In a virtual interaction with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, a video of which was released Thursday, Bajaj said, “On one hand, a porous lockdown ensures the virus will still exist and, it is still waiting to hit you when you will unlock. So you have not solved that problem.

But you have definitely decimated the economy. You flattened the wrong curve. It is not the infection curve, it is the GDP curve.” Describring the lockdown as “impervious and airtight”, the industrialist further said, “I am not hearing about this kind of a lockdown from anywhere else. I think we have fallen very short of disclosing facts, logic and the truth.

This has then got amplified and instilled such an enormous fear in people that people seem to think that the contagion is equal to a contagious cancer or something.” He opined that to change the mind of people and bring them back on board, and make them comfortable with the thought of living with the virus, which seems to be the new narrative coming from the government now, is a tall order.

India ended up with the “worst of both worlds” as it followed western nations such as Italy, France, Spain, UK and the U.S, Bajaj obserbed. “Unfortunately, India not only looked west, it went to the wild west. We tried to implement a hard lockdown and ended up with the worst of both worlds,” he added. Speaking about the economy, Gandhi, who has been holding talks with industry experts on the pandemic, said he has a few proposals to people in the government to understand why businesses aren’t being given a stimulus. To which, Bajaj said the first problem is to get this fear out of the minds of the people and for that the PM needs say everyone how we are going to move forward. Bajaj also urged the government to offer stimulus to creat e demand.