The Gender Dimension of Covid 19 Pandemic in India

What is it about?

It is a well-known fact that due to Covid our world has turned topsy turvy. We are forced to relearn and adapt new ways in our dealing, associations and mingling with people. We are no longer sure if our world is going to be the same as before. An unknown cause, pneumonia found in Wuhan, Province of Hubei as of 31 December 2019, eventually spread to more Chinese provinces, and to the rest of the world. It caused a big havoc leading to a lot of deaths, breaking of the infrastructures of the hospitals and the crumbling of the economy and society. Most people infected with the COVID-19 virus develop mild to moderate respiratory disease and while some recover others do not and no known cure is available. The spread of the disease was accompanied by new ways and social distancing, regular hand wash, no handshakes, wearing of masks , lockdowns and work from home that became the norm and this changed our society. This coronavirus epidemic is a social, economic and medical and will be global and prolonged and will leave its mark on our society. The present paper analyses the impact of this virus in India with a gender lens. It examines the changes in our society. It focuses on some of the issues like the impact in job market, the rise in domestic violence, increase in care work, the rise of domestic work load, declining out put of professional women, elderly and mental health.

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