India First

Supporting India’s Unorganised Workforce During the Lockdown As days, weeks and months have passed since India’s first novel coronavirus (nCoV) case identified on 30-Jan , the country has progressively moved from safety advisories issued by Union and state governments to restricting travel internationally and domestically, to   voluntary nationwide curfew suggested by the Prime Minister, to declaring a weeks-long lockdown of the country. While doctors, United Nations and World Health Organisation supported the lockdown, bringing the country (barring essential services) to a halt has extracted its economic price from all layers of society, even as the lockdown has succeeded in slowing down the spread of the virus across the length and breadth of the country. High level dynamics of India’s unorganised workforce India has an estimated workforce of about 50 crores (500 million), of which over 70% (Table 1.1) (35 crores/350 million) are believed to work in the unorg...

COVID-19 – the difficult journey and the uncertainties ahead Increasingly over the last few months the growing stranglehold of the novel coronavirus (nCoV) and the resulting coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) over humanity have grabbed headlines and mind space across the world. A couple of generations of people perhaps have not experienced a global crisis as widespread and as impactful as this one. While the region of its origin is certain, there’s lack of clarity so far on the cause of its spread. What did India do? In a hyperconnected world, perhaps no country would be lucky enough to stay free of this virus. The   first case in the world was reported on 31-Dec-19, and India reported its first on 30-Jan-20. Seven weeks on it had jumped to an alarming 468 . While its spread in India ensured daily reporting in media, Government of India (GoI) too was taking it seriously. It issued advisories on social distancing , use of masks , large gatherings and home quara...