Reportedly more than two months have passed since the nationwide lockdown was put in place to fight the novel coronavirus. The largest shutdown in the world has helped save several thousand lives, but it has also put India’s poorer population face-to-face with an existential crisis. The sudden economic disruption triggered by the lockdown left almost 12 crore people in india daily wager labourers, small shop owners, migrants jobless in april, according to Centre For Monitoring indian Economy (CMIE).
From household helps to daily-wage labourers and lower-salaried employees, a large section of India’s poor have been hit severely due to the lockdown. As india planned to further ease lockdown restrictions after june 30, experts say that at least 10 crore poor indians will be pushed below the World Bank-determined poverty line of $3.2, which is slightly above Rs 240.A Bloomberg report quoting Ashwajit Singh, managing director of IPE Global, suggests that the percentage of poverty-stricken people in the country could rise from 60 per cent to 68 per cent. The database shows that over 100 people have died due to starvation and financial distress during the lockdown, while as many as over 200 people have died in accidents while travelling or walking long distances to their native places.
Noted economists like Nobel Laureate abhijit banerjee, senior india NATIONAL CONGRESS' target='_blank' title='congress-Latest Updates, Photos, Videos are a click away, CLICK NOW'>congress leader P chidambaram and former bank OF INDIA' target='_blank' title='rbi-Latest Updates, Photos, Videos are a click away, CLICK NOW'>rbi governor raghuram Rajan agree that India’s poor are facing the biggest crisis of their lives and the government should provide direct cash relief to help them and since cases in india are spiking faster than before, speculation is rife that the lockdown will be extended in some areas. In case the lockdown is extended, it would be long before employment opportunities creep back to normal for low-paid workers and migrant labourers. The thousands of layoffs across companies in india will also have a direct impact on employment opportunities in urban areas.
