Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 150
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 151
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181]
LATEST NEWS UPDATES | How Second Wave Is Decimating Rural Economy -Rohit Inani

How Second Wave Is Decimating Rural Economy -Rohit Inani

Share this article Share this article
published Published on Jun 3, 2021   modified Modified on Jun 3, 2021

-IndiaSpend.com

The government has said that the economic impact from the second Covid-19 wave will be less than that of the first. But economists point to signs of a growing rural economic crisis, and call for urgent relief measures to ward off long-term damage.

Siolim, Goa: Ramesh Ram, 31, is listed as a textile industry staff worker in the administration's database of migrant workers in south west Bihar's Kaimur district. But for the last three years, Ram has worked as a contract labourer among the tens of thousands employed at the Alang ship-breaking and recycling yard in Gujarat, making enough to get by.

Today, Ram is back in his village, with no work, no capital to till his small parcel of land, and living in penury with his family of six, which includes three young daughters aged 6, 8 and 10.

Even before the second Covid-19 wave hit India this February, tens of millions of workers such as Ram had barely managed to recover from the adverse economic effects of the nationwide lockdown to control the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.

India's rural economy comprises both farm and non-farm sectors. Remittances sent by millions of migrant workers like Ram contribute to its non-farm economy, which is made up of formal and informal employment in sectors such as retail, construction, manufacturing, hospitality, education and transportation. Non-farm and remittance incomes have been found to exert a positive impact on food security and rural livelihoods. Consumption expenditure in rural India, where 70% of the population lives, in turn boosts the overall economy.

Though India's economy showed signs of recovery after the first wave peaked in September 2020, the recovery did not hold. Income, employment and nutrition levels were still below baseline pre-lockdown levels by the end of 2020, new research has found. Unemployment has been on the rise since March 2021, entering double digits in May. Besides loss of jobs, wages have also decreased, according to multiple household surveys, leaving many workers unable to properly feed their families.

As the second wave continues to spread through India, albeit at a slower pace--on June 1, India reported 127,510 new Covid-19 cases and 2,795 deaths--economists warn of the economic impact on families like Ram's in rural India. With several state governments announcing local and state-wide lockdowns, the economic impact would not only dent rural households' already fragile financial health, but also have a knock-on effect on India's economic recovery, they tell us, with rural consumption decreasing.

The warnings come as the government released data showing India's economy contracted in the past year, marking its worst performance in 40 years. The finance ministry also said that the economic impact of the second Covid-19 wave would be less than of the first. Economists disagree, pointing to growing poverty, rural unemployment, indebtedness and stagnant wages, and call for urgent government relief along the lines of cash assistance and free food grains given under the Atmanirbhar package in the first wave, to stave off an impending hunger crisis.

Rural households left with little cash and no savings

In Alang, Ram recalls earning Rs 500 a day. "We ran our house on this income. This was all we had. I divided my daily earnings and sent most of it to my family back home. However much it was, it was enough for us to survive," said Ram.

In March 2021, with India's Covid-19 second wave rising, rumours were spreading among Alang's migrant workers that another national lockdown would be announced. Fearing a repeat of last year's troubles when a nationwide lockdown was announced on March 24, 2020 and daily wage earners in urban India found themselves with no means of sustenance with just four hours notice, Ram left Alang for home, along with dozens of other migrant workers.

When he reached his village of Soukhara, he was relieved, said Ram. However, within days, his family's savings had dried up and they fell into poverty. "I have no money left. My bank account has nothing in it."

Ram thought of taking up work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in Soukhara, but there was no work available. "In our village there is only one kind of work to do [under MGNREGS]…which is to dig up earth, but the earth is hard," said Ram. "This work will only begin when the monsoon arrives and the earth softens."

Ram has no other assets except for an acre of agricultural land, which today lays idle. "I have no capital at all, so how could I even think of starting farming?" he told IndiaSpend. His family receives free grains under the Public Distribution Scheme (PDS), which entitles each member of India's poor households to 5 kg of grains per month. With no cash in hand, Ram decided to sell a portion of the grains received under PDS to buy essentials such as vegetables and oil.

"Hum sab majbooran bohot pareshan hain. (We feel very helpless)," Ram said.

Please click here to read more.


IndiaSpend.com, 3 June, 2021, https://www.indiaspend.com/economy/how-second-wave-is-decimating-rural-economy-752867


Related Articles

 

Write Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

Video Archives

Archives

share on Facebook
Twitter
RSS
Feedback
Read Later

Contact Form

Please enter security code
      Close