Take the instance of jute mills, the retrenched workers face acute privation with their dues yet to be paid. With no means of livelihood to fall back on, their very existence is imperilled. Their children can't go to school, they are denied minimal daily nutritional intake, healthcare is a far cry, and overall, their life has come to a paralytic halt.

Golden handshake which literally means payment of generous severance benefits to encourage older hands of an organisation to leave it, has been quite a disorganised affair. Payments were staggered and the recipients unable to pool resources to start any new business.

It's a pity that the gruel kitchen opened to feed the affected in Khalishpur allegedly had to be closed down and the flow of relief to the area is unsteady at best.

To our mind, an unplanned move has been taken in the name of reducing subsidies to the SoEs and cutting their losses, so that the reform agenda as implemented seems devoid of any human face.

While retrenchment in loss-making state-owned enterprises may be understandable, shutdown of industries is an extreme move with severe unsettling implications. The government should either open avenues of employment or facilitate creation of jobs in the private sector.

With an already high unemployment base in the country, one would have thought the government had seen the wisdom of avoiding the sudden eviction of thousands of hawkers from the city and demolition of local haats and bazars that unsettled the means livelihood for many people in both urban and rural areas. No prior thought had been given to their rehabilitation in alternative locations.

The increasing numbers of unemployed have a way of pushing the country to a socio-economic disaster. Already, observers tend to believe that those who have been thrown out of jobs may have proved susceptible to joining the ranks of criminals. There must be a quick turn-around in the situation.