Focus

{"id":6559,"__component":"library.focus","Focus":"<h3>Our Library section takes us to the heart of reports on how the covid-19 pandemic impacted workers across the country and how they continue to remain vulnerable, while the incomes of a few super rich rose exponentially</h3><p></p><hr/><p></p><p>The first covid-19 lockdown\non March 25, 2020, triggered distress for millions of ordinary Indians.</p>\n\n<p>“We went from a handful to nothing.” <a href=\"https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/articles/we-went-from-a-handful-to-nothing/\">Construction labourers </a>in Jammu, Mohan Lal\nand his wife Narmadabai saw their savings fall to Rs. 2,000 at the start of the\nlockdown. They had to borrow money from their contractor to buy rations and\nother essentials.</p>\n\n<p>Overall, the unemployment rate in India shot up to 23 per cent\nin April and May 2020 – more than three times the rate (7.3 per cent) in\nFebruary 2020, noted the <a href=\"https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/library/resource/state-of-rural-and-agrarian-india-report-2020-rethinking-productivity-and-populism-through-alternative-approaches/\">State of Rural and Agrarian India Report 2020</a>.\nBefore the pandemic (2018-19), it had hovered around 8.8 per cent.</p><p><embed alt=\"Image 1\" embedtype=\"image\" format=\"halfwidth\" id=\"24032\"/><br/></p>\n\n<p>The lockdown resulted in\nmillions of workers losing their jobs overnight; migrant workers were compelled\nto return home.</p>\n\n<p>“We returned home a month after lockdown,” recalled Archana\nMandwe of Beed, Maharashtra. Faced with <a href=\"https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/articles/we-dont-want-to-go-back-to-the-city/\">depleting savings and no income</a>,\nthe  family of five had no option but to return to their village. With\nbans on travel, they could only move at night – travelling 200 kilometres from\nAurangabad on a single motorcycle.</p>\n\n<p>PARI has reported <a href=\"https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/articles/covering-the-human-cost-of-covid-19/\">more than 200 stories </a>about the impact of\ncovid-19 on workers in India. The <a href=\"https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/library/\">PARI\nLibrary </a>, in its sections on <a href=\"https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/library/rooms/covid-19/\">Covid-19 </a>and <a href=\"https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/library/rooms/labour/\">Labour</a>,\nsupplements these stories with research and reports examining the state of\nworkers in India and the struggles they face. These include publications by the\ngovernment, independent organisations and UN agencies.</p><p><img alt=\"Image 2\" height=\"411\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 512w, 100vw\" srcset=\"/media/images/Bulletin_2_-_Image_2.max-512x410.png 512w, /media/images/Bulletin_2_-_Image_2.max-1400x1120.png\" width=\"995\"/><br/></p>\n\n<p>The International Labour\nOrganization’s (ILO) <a href=\"https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/library/resource/global-wage-report-2020-21-wages-and-minimum-wages-in-the-time-of-covid-19/\">Global Wage Report 2020-21</a>, recorded\nunparalleled levels of unemployment across the world. It states that the\ncovid-19 induced fall in working hours equalled a staggering 345 million\nfull-time jobs. A result of this was a 10.7 per cent decline in labour incomes\nworldwide.</p>\n\n<p>Meanwhile, life was going great for billionaires across the\nworld who saw their wealth increase by a total of 3.9 trillion dollars between\nMarch and December, notes Oxfam’s 2021 report <a href=\"https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/library/resource/the-inequality-virus-bringing-together-a-world-torn-apart-by-coronavirus-through-a-fair-just-and-sustainable-economy/\">The Inequality Virus</a>. The ILO report\npoints to the plight of people on the other end of the spectrum – informal\nworkers –  saw their earnings fall by a fifth (22.6 per cent) in 2020.</p>\n\n<p>Sheela Devi, a <a href=\"https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/articles/a-melting-pot-of-lockdown-losses/\">potter </a>from Delhi, saw her family’s\nearnings fall from Rs. 10,000 to 20,000 (during festivals) to a mere Rs. 3,000\nto 4,000 in the early months of the pandemic. While potter Kumbhar Ismail\nHussain from Kachchh, Gujarat had no sales at all during April-June 2020.</p>\n\n<p>“For now, my two children and I are living off the ration rice\nand lentils. But I don’t know how long we can go on like this,” said M.\nNalluthai, a <a href=\"https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/articles/karagattam-artistes-on-a-bad-stage-in-madurai/\">Karagattam performer </a>from Madurai, Tamil\nNadu, who also saw her work and income adversely affected due to the pandemic.</p><p><img alt=\"Image 3\" height=\"411\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 512w, 100vw\" srcset=\"/media/images/Bulletin_2_-_Image_3.max-512x410.png 512w, /media/images/Bulletin_2_-_Image_3.max-1400x1120.png\" width=\"995\"/><br/></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/library/resource/impact-of-covid-19-national-lockdown-on-women-domestic-workers-in-delhi/\">Impact of Covid\n19 National Lockdown on Women Domestic Workers in Delhi </a>revealed\nthat 83 per cent of the domestic workers surveyed in May 2020 had experienced\neconomic difficulties during the lockdown. Around 14 per cent were unable to\nmeet their household expenses and had to borrow money from relatives and\nneighbours.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/articles/hunger-on-the-table-city-under-lockdown/\">Domestic workers </a>in Pune were in the same\nboat. “We all exist hand-to-mouth and fill our stomachs by doing domestic work.\nBut now there’s no work, so where will we get money?” said Aboli Kamble.</p>\n\n<p>Women made up 20 per cent of India&#39;s workforce before covid-19\nand accounted for 23 per cent of pandemic-induced job losses, states Oxfam’s\nreport <a href=\"https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/library/resource/power-profits-and-the-pandemic/\">Power, profits and the pandemic</a>. They\nwere an invaluable part of the ‘essential’ workforce during the pandemic as\nwell.</p>\n\n<p>Shahbai Gharat, an accredited social health activist or ASHA\nfrom Beed district in Maharashtra, went door to door fulfilling her usual\nduties in addition to tracking covid-19 cases. When her family members tested\npositive for the virus, she had to sell her farmland and her jewellery to pay\nfor their treatment. The only aid she received (between March 2020 and August\n2021) for her consistent hard work were <a href=\"https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/articles/in-beed-waiting-for-a-pandemic-paradigm-shift/\">22 disposable masks and five N95s </a>. “Do\nyou think the returns are fair in our job when you consider the risk involved?”</p><p><embed alt=\"Image 4\" embedtype=\"image\" format=\"halfwidth\" id=\"24035\"/><br/></p>\n\n<p>The position of workers\nremained vulnerable a year after the start of the pandemic. <a href=\"https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/library/resource/voices-of-the-invisible-citizens-ii-one-year-of-covid-19---are-we-seeing-shifts-in-internal-migration-patterns-in-india/\">Voices of the Invisible Citizens II: One year of\nCovid-19 </a>reported that 73 per cent of workers were finding it\ndifficult to secure jobs since the pandemic. And 36 per cent reported reduced\nwages.</p>\n\n<p>The Parliament passed the <a href=\"https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/library/resource/the-code-on-social-security-2020/\">Code on Social Security, 2020</a>, aimed to\n“amend and consolidate the laws relating to social security with the goal to\nextend social security to all employees and workers either in the organised or\nunorganised or any other sectors.” However, workers across India continue to\nfind basic amenities inaccessible.</p>\n\n<p>The PARI Library is a place to better understand the situation\non the ground and examine the gaps in the implementation of government\npolicies.</p><hr/>\n\n<p><i>Cover design: Swadesha Sharma</i></p>"}

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