As 配達／演説／出産 労働者s 現れる as frontline 兵士s, India's 政府 warms to e-商業
By Sankalp Phartiyal
NEW DELHI, April 9 (Reuters) - Three days after India 課すd a 全国的な lockdown, Devender Singh revved up his motorcycle to 配達する meat and eggs to 顧客s - but his heart was in his mouth as he の近くにd in on a police バリケード on a 砂漠d New Delhi road.
Beatings of 配達／演説／出産 労働者s by overzealous police after 総理大臣 Narendra Modi late last month suddenly 課すd the world's biggest lockdown to 含む／封じ込める the coronavirus had unnerved him.
"That day, it felt like my time to get thrashed had come," Singh, 30, told Reuters on a 静かな summer afternoon as he was out making 配達／演説／出産s.
"But what I was 推定する／予想するing didn't happen. The police were very friendly - they just asked me where I was going and why."
Singh said he was 許すd to proceed after he flashed a いわゆる movement pass authorised by the police and given to him by his 雇用者 Licious, an online meat 蓄える／店 支援するd by Bertelsmann's 投機・賭ける 資本／首都 arm and Silicon Valley's Mayfield 基金.
E-商業 is now limping 支援する to life in India as the 国境 終結s, 倉庫／問屋 shutdowns and general 混乱 that 最初 …を伴ってd the three-week shutdown order have 緩和するd. While still （疑いを）晴らすing a backlog of 以前 placed orders, most online retailers are 受託するing new orders, albeit with 延期するd 配達／演説／出産s and a 限られた／立憲的な 製品 目録.
Moreover, political coldness に向かって e-商業, which many in India see as a 脅し to millions of brick-and-迫撃砲 retailers, has faded. While grocery 蓄える／店s and pharmacies are still open, it has become evident that Singh and the thousands of 配達／演説／出産 労働者s like him have become 決定的な frontline 兵士s in the country's 戦う／戦い against the pandemic.
最高潮の場面ing that 転換, two days into the lockdown, 貿易（する） 大臣 Piyush Goyal held a ビデオ 会議／協議会 with nearly two dozen e-商業 (n)役員／(a)執行力のあるs in a 企て，努力，提案 to understand 障害物s 直面するd by the 部門.
That contrasts with Goyal's public 無視する，冷たく断わる of アマゾン boss Jeff Bezos during his India visit in January, when he said the company wasn't doing a "広大な／多数の／重要な favour to India" by 投資するing a billion dollars.
アマゾン and its Walmart-controlled 競争相手 Flipkart have until now not had a warm welcome in India: New Delhi tweaked foreign 投資 支配するs, 軍隊ing the two companies to alter their structures, and anti-信用 調査（する）s have been 開始する，打ち上げるd against them over 主張s of 深い 割引s that 傷つける small 商売／仕事s.
"While e-商業 companies are still somewhat struggling to fulfil 配達／演説／出産s, everyone - the 政府, 顧客, and Indian 商売／仕事s - is 急速な／放蕩な realising that online 小売 cannot be ignored anymore," said Satish Meena, a 上級の 分析家 at Forrester 研究.
"I believe the 政府 will now 緊急に 簡素化する e-商業 規則s which will help 緩和する 過程s and 除去する bottlenecks in the 部門."
ESSENTIAL, JUST LIKE DOCTORS
Singh said his wife had been 気が進まない to let him go to work, 恐れるing he might 契約 the ウイルス, be 強襲，強姦d by police or even have his new motorcycle 押収するd.
But as the 単独の bread 勝利者 for his family of three, Singh had little choice. He 配達するs eight to 10 orders each day, 負かす／撃墜する from about 20 when 供給（する）s and orders 容積／容量s were normal. Though, unlike in some countries where 労働者s are paid per 配達／演説／出産, that doesn't mean a 攻撃する，衝突する to his 月毎の 行う of about 18,000 rupees ($235).
Riding his motorcycle on empty roads, he reaches the 配達／演説／出産 centre in an east Delhi neighbourhood within 10 minutes, half the time it used to take before the lockdown.
All 配達／演説／出産 労働者s sanitize their 手渡すs on entering the building, wear 直面する masks and put on gloves before they 完全に 殺菌する their carry 捕らえる、獲得する.
Stacking the neatly packed meat boxes in his 捕らえる、獲得する, Singh leaves for 顧客s' homes. As most apartment コンビナート／複合体s in Delhi have 閉めだした 配達／演説／出産 労働者s' 入ること／参加（者）, he calls 顧客s to the gate to 選ぶ up their order placed 頂上に his 捕らえる、獲得する.
"I n these times, we are also 実行するing an 必須の service just like doctors, nurses and police," Singh said from behind a 直面する mask and a handkerchief with a smile in his 注目する，もくろむs.
For Ankita Mitra, a public relations professional based in the southern tech 中心 of Bengaluru, e-商業 has been a godsend. She said she has been placing online grocery orders for her parents who live nearly 2,000 km (1,240 miles) away in north India.
"I can sleep at night, knowing that my parents don't have to worry about going out tomorrow," she said. ($1 = 76.3350 Indian rupees) (報告（する）／憶測ing by Sankalp Phartiyal; Editing by Jonathan Weber and Edwina Gibbs)
