The Covid-19 Crisis in India (original) (raw)
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The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the world in many ways. In India it has been five months since the first case has been reported and in this period the country has changed drastically in every aspect socially as well as economically. Thus, the issues of health, the rapid decline of economy, shortage of medicines, sanitizers, masks, poverty, unemployment, migrant workers, racism, has undoubtedly taken centre stage and each has left a mark on the lives of people (Singh, 2020). Therefore, the essay focuses on understanding the critical social issues i.e poverty which has increased due to the lockdown and similarly, tries to make some suggestions to tackle further rise in poverty to overcome current and post lockdown crisis.
Not all Lockdowns are Created Equal. Indian Migrant Crisis in Times of COVID-19
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The COVID-19 pandemic in India laid visible the stark disparity and unequal distribution of resources in the Indian society. With the imposition of one of the harshest lockdowns in the world , the migrant workers in the country (both interstate and intrastate) have taken the cruel brunt of this pandemic. These internal migrant workers were left in the urban economic centres (cities) with no proper housing, jobs (most of them being employed in informal sectors) and any form of income generation. This led to a mass exodus of migrant workers from urban centres to their rural homes in the hope that they may not go hungry and will have a roof over their heads. The global crisis brought to the forefront that the pandemic is being experienced differently by different economic strands of the Indian society. By severing the public transportation (buses and trains), to mitigate the risk of spread of the virus across districts and states , the migrant workers were denied the only means of affo...
COVID-19 Pandemic and Rights of Migrants in India
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The announcement of a nationwide lockdown in India to combat the spread of COVID-19 saw millions of migrants rush back to their villages. In doing so, they placed themselves and their families at risk. Why did they do so? Did policymakers have choices?
Abandoned by the state: the migrant crisis and public action in the time of Covid-19 in India
2020
Chapter 1 Covid-19 in India: Pandemic or a 'panic'demic? 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Background and Justification Informal labour economy in Maharashtra 1.3 Objective 1.4 Research Question Sub-questions Chapter 2 Analytical framework and Methodology 2.1 Analytical Framework Social protection: definitions and approaches Labour regimes Citizenship-based and Employment-based entitlements The notion of public action and responses to the crisis Governmentality and biopolitics 2.2 Methodology Primary data sources Secondary data sources Additional sources Ethical issues and challenges Chapter 3 A Health Emergency to the Migrant Crisis 3.1 Pre-existing migrant labour regimes: precarity, vulnerability, invisibility and deprivation Insecure income and precarious livelihoods Vulnerability to exploitation Invisibility in policy Deprivation of citizenship-based entitlements 3.2 Lockdown measures: effects on and lives of migrant workers Impact on livelihoods Access to basic necessities Lack of appropriate information Transport bottlenecks iv Uncertainty and anxiety Chapter 4 Shock, awe, and law and order: The state's crisis response strategy 4.1 Central government's decision making: setting the tone for crisis response 4.2 Lack of coordination between the centre and the states 4.3 Too little, too late: Maharashtra state government's response to the crisis Healthcare Housing Food security Employment and cash transfers Transport and quarantine of the migrants Fragmented State response Chapter 5 Collaborative and Adversarial Public action by Non-state Actors 5.1 Collaborative Public Action Direct support 5.2 Adversarial public action Pressure for State support Holding a mirror: information collection and knowledge dissemination Long term strategies State responsibility Chapter 6 Conclusion Summary of Findings Recommendations Need for universalization of the social protection benefits Need for Decentralized, pro-people decision making Review of Pandemic response strategy What remains to be explored? Final remarks Appendices 43 References 49
Migrant Workers and Human Rights: A Critical Study on India's COVID-19 Lockdown Policy
Elsevier Social Sciences and Humanities, 2021
India was one of the leading countries to implement the initial lockdown to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, but still, the lockdown failed and within a few months, India joined the list of countries most affected by the coronavirus epidemic. Why did this transpire? What were the reasons abaft this? Where did the Indian government miss? This manuscript endeavors to study the lacunae in the lockdown plans of the Indian Government and highlights the mistakes committed by the Government which caused the lockdown in India to fail and further exposed the domestic migrant laborers to unbearable difficulties. The manuscript argues that the fundamental and economic rights bestowed upon the domestic migrant workers and other laborers under labor laws and the Indian constitution were breached extensively during the lockdown and that the state’s policies during the lockdown worsened the condition of the domestic migrant workers.