What is it about?
It primarily let us know about to know about the effect of Lockdown in India through a household survey undertaken in online mode.
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Why is it important?
The present study provides a snapshot of the level of degradation of economic and living conditions of middle-class households of Kolkata and its neighbourhood during ‘lockdown’. It is based on an on-line survey of households of students of five purposively-selected colleges carried out during the second half of May 2020. The survey reveals that inflow of regular normal income had ceased altogether for over 40% of the sample households. About 15% of the households suffered from outright job loss or complete denial or withholding of wages and salaries payments of their members in paid employment and another about 27% reported complete closure of small businesses run by them. The normal-times income had altogether ceased for over a half of the households of the lowest income group. Predictably, the worst hit group was the wage labourers. Over four-fifths households with their prime earning member in wage employment reported job and earnings related problems, with over a fourth reporting job losses. Households with self-employed prime earners too were severely affected, with about three-fourths of them reporting such problems. Even the households with regular-salaried prime earners were badly hit. About a half of them reported job and earnings related problems. The results suggest that food grains distribution through the Public Distribution System (PDS) played a decisive role in averting an imminent famine-like situation. About 60% of the sample households were found to have procured food stuff from the PDS. Among the wage-labourers’ households, well over 80% reported dependence on the PDS, with ostensibly a large proportion of them receiving food altogether free. Despite free food grains distribution, about 5% of the sample households could not arrange three meals a day for all its members.
Perspectives
As mush as two third of the population are adversely affected in this long unplanned lockdown. the situation assessment of the households belonging to different financial strata are lucidly described here.
Bandana Sen
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Economic impact of initial period of lockdown in Kolkata and suburbs, Statistical Journal of the IAOS, March 2021, IOS Press,
DOI: 10.3233/sji-200776.
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