Hunger stalks India s poor in pandemic double blow | Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) bssnews.net - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from bssnews.net Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Rasheeda Jaleel lives in fear that she may not be able to feed her seven children as millions of Indian families are forced into poverty by a devastating new coronavirus wave.
The first wave of Covid last year pushed the earnings of the families of 23 crore Indians below the national minimum daily wage of Rs 375 suggested by a government-appointed committee, a report released on Wednesday said.
The “State of Working India 2021: One year of Covid-19”, released by the Azim Premji University, says the number of people living in households with daily incomes below Rs 375 was 22.62 crore and 7.24 crore in rural and urban areas, respectively, at the start of the outbreak in March 2020.
At the end of October last year, eight months into the pandemic, these numbers had increased to 36.52 crore (a rise of 61 per cent) in rural areas and 16.38 crore (a rise of 126 per cent) in urban areas, respectively. Collectively, the number rose from 29.86 crore to 52.9 crore, a rise of 77 per cent.
Years of efforts to improve gender parity in the workplace have been undone by the COVID-19 pandemic that has played havoc with livelihoods, especially in the case of women.
New confirmed cases of Covid-19 are now running at around 350,000 a day in India, with close to 3,000 people dying daily. However, doctors believe that cases may be being undercounted by a factor of up to five, and daily deaths may be two or three times official figures. Many people, especially in rural areas, are never tested for the virus. The Indian government reportedly expects cases to peak at around 500,000 by mid-May, indicating that the worst may yet be to come. Covid-19 cases in India are skyrocketing Daily new confirmed cases of coronavirus in India (rolling seven-day average). Source: Our World in Data