Did MNREGA Cushion Job Losses During the COVID-19 Crisis?
Analysis suggests that districts that have historically exhibited high state capacity to utilise MNREGA funds have been better able to use the additional funds for employment recovery last year â especially for women.
Women at a MNREGA work site. Photo: UN Women Asia and Pacific/Flickr CC BY NC ND 2.0
Rights11/Feb/2021
Data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE)âs Consumer Pyramids Household Survey (CPHS) show that employment fell precipitously during the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown, especially in April and May 2020. It exhibited a V-shaped recovery in June-July, when mobility restrictions were eased, but tapered off thereafter and has remained below the pre-pandemic level since the economy was opened up further from August onwards. A key measure that the government undertook to pump up employment was increased allocation for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA).
Leaving the middle class high and dry
Over 66 lakh white collar professionals lost their jobs between May and August - The Hindu
Over 66 lakh white collar professionals lost their jobs between May and August - The Hindu×
The Budget has once again ignored the middle class. The pandemic had exposed the fragility of India’s consumption base
There was this meme that went viral on Twitter soon after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled her “historic” Budget. It showed a picture of three Arctic wolves. Two of them one labelled ‘upper class’ and the other ‘lower class’ appeared to be laughing heartily, while the third, tagged ‘middle class’, looked on glumly. “It’s hard to be middle class”, the Tweet said.
Younger workers and women were hit most by Covid-19 – and they’re still struggling to recover
For every 100 women employed in December 2019, 74 lost work during the lockdown and another 11 lost work subsequently, finds a survey. Representational image. | PTI
The Covid-19 pandemic has delivered a large and sustained
economic shock to the global economy. In India, the effect can be broadly divided into two phases – the shock of the
nationwide lockdown in the months of April and May 2020, and the subsequent evolution of the shock (through smaller
While several small surveys and
reports indicate that there were large employment and income losses, not only during the lockdown but
Pandemic Effect: 9 Months On, More Younger Workers Remain Jobless indiaspend.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from indiaspend.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
What 2020 did to India’s inequality
Until now, the burden of this once-in-a-century crisis has been borne unequally, and mostly by the poor.
(Photo: Reuters)Premium
Rahul Lahoti,
Amit Basole
The bottom 10% of Indians lost a fourth of their income last year. Can the Budget put a lid on widening inequality?
In the shadow of an upcoming Union Budget, these facts acquire more resonance. The govt should consider a covid cess on the rich in order to partly fund direct support to the poor.
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BENGALURU :
Even before covid-19, India was already a highly unequal country. As per the World Inequality Database, the share of the top 10% in India’s national income was about 56%, much higher than comparable countries like Indonesia (41%), Vietnam (42%), and even China (41%). India’s pandemic-induced economic hit is expected to be much worse than any of these comparable Asian nations.