Mitigating the COVID-19 pandemic in India: an in-depth exploration of challenges and opportunities for three vulnerable population groups (original) (raw)

The first 100 days: how has COVID-19 affected poor and vulnerable groups in India?

Health Promotion International, 2021

Summary In India, strict public health measures to suppress COVID-19 transmission and reduce burden have been rapidly adopted. Pandemic containment and confinement measures impact societies and economies; their costs and benefits must be assessed holistically. This study provides an evolving portrait of the health, economic and social consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on vulnerable populations in India. Our analysis focuses on 100 days early in the pandemic from 13 March to 20 June 2020. We developed a conceptual framework based on the human right to health and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We analysed people’s experiences recorded and shared via mobile phone on the voice platforms operated by the Gram Vaani COVID-19 response network, a service for rural and low-income populations now being deployed to support India’s COVID-19 response. Quantitative and visual methods were used to summarize key features of the data and explore relationships between factors. In its...

Impact of COVID-19 on the lives of vulnerable young people in New Delhi, India: a mixed method study

BMJ Paediatrics Open, 2021

BackgroundIndia is home to the largest child population in the world. India also has faced a devastating burden of COVID-19 infections. During the first wave of COVID-19, the Indian government’s lockdown measures brought loss of livelihoods for millions. We aimed to explore the social, psychological and health impacts of the government’s pandemic measures on children and young people (CYP), and their families.MethodsBal Umang Drishya Sanstha (BUDS) is a non-profit organisation providing child health and welfare services to marginalised urban slum communities in New Delhi, India. As part of formative evaluation of BUDS’s COVID-19 pandemic relief efforts, the team conducted a rapid survey of 60 children (10–17 years) and 62 young adults (18–25 years) who were beneficiaries of the relief programme. The team also undertook semi-structured interviews with nine young women attending BUDS’s second-chance education programme.ResultsAlmost all respondents had some understanding of COVID-19 (...

Impact of the COVID-19 National Lockdown on a Rural and Tribal Population of Tamil Nadu, Southern India: A Mixed-Methods Survey

The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 2022

We assessed the impact of the national lockdown on a rural and tribal population in Tamil Nadu, southern India. A mixed-methods approach with a pilot-tested, semi-structured questionnaire and focus group discussions were used. The impact of the lockdown on health, finances, and livelihood was studied using descriptive statistics. Multivariable logistic regression was carried out to identify factors associated with households that borrowed loans or sold assets during the lockdown, and unemployment during the lockdown. Of the 607 rural and tribal households surveyed, households from comparatively higher socioeconomic quintiles (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.84; 95% CI, 1.01–3.34), with no financial savings (aOR, 2.91; 95% CI, 1.17–7.22), and with larger families (aOR, 1.76; 95% CI, 1.22–2.53), took loans or sold assets during the lockdown. Previously employed individuals from rural households (aOR, 5.07; 95% CI, 3.30–7.78), lower socioeconomic households (aOR, 3.08; 95% CI, 1.74, 5.45)...

Pushed to the Margins: The Crisis Among Tribal Youth in India During COVID-19

JOURNAL , 2021

Lack of awareness, lack of availability of non-farm activities, lack of nutritional facilities, inadequate health infrastructure, restricted movement to forest areas, and reliance on herbal medicines are some of the worst conditions that the indigenous population had to face worldwide, during the pandemic. Around 10.45 crore (10.45 million) indigenous population that resides in India are at stake because of economic inequality and social stigma. Lack of developmental measures in India has always led the tribal population to dwell at the margins without proper resources of economic sustenance. The announcements of lockdown and proposals for industrial projects approved during the lockdown period further aggravated their conditions. With the help of secondary data, news reports, and international agency reports, the article tries to critically review the conditions of the tribal population in India, the measures taken by the government, and the role of local organizations in helping tribal people to sustain the pandemic

Social Policy, COVID-19 and Impoverished Migrants: Challenges and Prospects in Locked Down India

As countries shore up existing safeguards to address the social and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, India faces a humanitarian disaster of unprecedented proportions. Ninety per cent of the Indian workforce is employed in the unorganised sector; uncounted millions work in urban areas at great distances from rural homes. When the Government of India (GOI) announced the sudden 'lockdown' in March to contain the spread of the pandemic, migrant informal workers were mired in a survival crisis, through income loss, hunger, destitution and persecution from authorities policing containment and fearful communities maintaining 'social distance'. In this context, the article analyses how poverty, informality and inequality are accentuated by the COVID-19 pandemic experiences of 'locked down' migrant workers. The article examines the nature and scope of existing social policy, designed under changing political regimes and a fluctuating economic climate, to protect this vulnerable group and mitigate dislocation, discrimination and destitution at this moment and in future.

IMPACT OF COVID19 CRISIS ON LIVES OF VULNERABLE CHILDREN IN INDIA: A SOCIOECONOMIC ANALYSIS AND POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS

The outbreak of pandemic COVID19 has challenged the existing system of functioning across the world and made us realize that change coined as “new normal” is inevitable to smoothen our lives. While imposition of lock down is a necessary step to curb the spread of the COVID19 infection and to lessen the burden on the existing health infrastructure, this has substantial adverse socioeconomic effect on India and rest of the world. Child exploitation in the form of frequent incidents of child marriages and child labour are some significant yet less studied external effects of epidemic or pandemic. Using latest, relevant reports and articles by national and international agencies, this paper highlights the adverse effect of pandemic COVID19 on vulnerable children in the form of child labour and child marriages; its associated socioeconomic consequences for the years to come, recent government policies to combat such social evils followed by effective suggestions. Furthermore, this article draws an analogy between the incidence of increasing school drop-outs and exploitation of children during and post Ebola pandemic in African countries and the increasing similar situation of India during the COVID19 pandemic and the likelihood of missing children from schools in post-lockdown years.

Impact of Covid-19 on Livelihood and Health Experiences of Migrant Labourers in Kerala, India

2022

Covid-19 is the most consequential crisis in our memory and has affected everyone irrespective of class, caste, gender and ethnicity. The pandemic also exacerbated pre-existing inequalities, and those who were marginalised took the brunt of the unprecedented crisis. InterState Migrant Workers was one such community who were at the intersections of marginalisation. Mostly they belong to economically poor Scheduled Caste/Tribe and Backward Communities. Most of them are agriculture labour, and often due to poor rains and unemployment they migrate to other states for better employment and wage. This essay explores the confluence of elements that helped Kerala to manage the Covid-19 pandemic during the first wave, March to May 2020. The study adopted mixed method, about 132 migrant workers were interviewed using a structured schedule and 10 case studies were collected. The study finds that a majority, 92 per cent are SC/ST/ OBC, education level less than high school and economically very poor. The study examined the measures taken by the government to address the crisis and how it helped to address the need and concerns of the migrant workers. It also captured the life, livelihood, healthcare utilisation and overall experience of interstate Dalit migrant workers who reside in Kerala.

Agony of survival Refugees and marginality in India during COVID-19

Routledge, 2022

Marginality and refugees live side by side be it a normal situation or any kind of crisis. The COVID-19 not only multiplied the sufferings and marginalities of the refugee communities but also added and strengthened various stigmas, discriminations, and increased phobias about them. Refugees apart, the majoritarian imaginations tried to break the pandora box of COVID-19 on the heads of weaker and underprivileged sections of society which also includes the IDP COVID-19 is a virulent deadliest viral disease that spread across the world from Wuhan, China. It emerged from the family of Coronaviruses and this was the latest SARS-COV-2. It has disrupted human mobility across the national and international borders and imposed worldwide lockdown. IDP is an abridged form of an Internally displaced people/person, undocumented citizens, labour migrants, minorities, and backward classes. We have witnessed the discriminations against these people during the pandemic across the borders. Thus, COVID-19 has exposed the existing structural inequalities in our societies on the grounds of gender, caste, class, religion, race, etc. This chapter tries to analyze the situation of refugees in India during the disquieting time of the COVID-19 crisis, what challenges they face (racial, health-related, economic, political) and how did they struggle to survive through various possible means. It also underlines how legal weakness and socio-economic exclusion and misunderstandings led to the further subjugation, exploitation, and exclusion of refugees from all government schemes and social spheres. This discourse analysis takes the help of data from existing available interviews, reports, and blogs/news reports/newspapers. It also analyzes the role of national and international bodies and NGOs in mitigating the spread of this disease among refugees and helping them in difficult times and what are their challenges while assisting these deprived communities

Knowledge, attitude, and practices related to COVID-19 among poor and marginalized communities in central India: A cross-sectional study

PLoS ONE, 2022

COVID-19 has led to unprecedented challenges and requires local and global efforts for its mitigation. Poor and marginalized populations are more vulnerable to the health, social and economic effects of the pandemic. The objective of this study was to know about the knowledge, attitude and practices towards COVID-19 among poor and marginalized communities in central India and the factors associated with them so that effective risk communication messages can be designed and community engagement needs and strategies can be identified. A cross-sectional survey was conducted using an Interactive Voice Response System as part of the NISHTHA-Swasthya Vani intervention, which is a platform for dissemination of key messages related to COVID-19, social welfare schemes, national health programs and other important information. A total of 1673 respondents participated in the survey. The mean knowledge, attitude and practice scores of the respondents was 4.06 (SD = 1.67) out of 8, 2.46 (SD = 1....

Pandemic, informality, and vulnerability: impact of COVID-19 on livelihoods in India

Canadian Journal of Development Studies / Revue canadienne d'études du développement, 2021

We greatly acknowledge their efforts in the project and several others who provided their valuable feedback at numerous stages of the project. We are particularly grateful to Deepti Goel, Arjun Jayadev, Rajendran Narayanan, and Anand Srivastava for several discussions and for their comments and feedback. We acknowledge Azim Premji University and the Azim Premji Philanthropic Initiatives for their support and funding for the project. We are thankful to the staff at the various civil society organizations who conducted the interviews and the numerous student volunteers from Azim