Reportedly more than two months have passed since the nationwide lockdown was put in place to fight the novel coronavirus. As india plans to further ease lockdown restrictions after May 31, 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.
Meanwhile 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.
Even if the lockdown is significantly relaxed after May 31, the aftermath of the crisis may last for over 18 months.The thousands of layoffs across companies in india will also have a direct impact on employment opportunities in urban areas. For instance, many people who have now discovered they can survive without a maid or have lost their jobs, may not opt to call them back. This could significantly dent the pyramid structure of wealth flow, especially from middle-income groups to poorer sections.Many reports suggested that migrants were not even paid a salary for work done before the lockdown.
