Community

perceptions on the
impact of COVID-19
in rural Bihar
22.07.2020
Methodology used

Secondary research:
Understanding
• the COVID scenario in Bihar
• the outreach programs
initiated by the government
for returning migrants

Primary research:
A qualitative study done in the form of
• community discussions
• interviews
A visit to one of the largest cattle markets in Bihar
The COVID scenario in Bihar

Bihar, the state with lowest no. of COVID tests per million: 2197

Bihar, one of the states with highest no. of returning migrants: About 3 million

State-sponsored quarantine centres for returning migrants: 1st May to 15th June

Aid for all quarantined returning migrants: a ration card and a MGNREGA job card

Average no. of tests per day in June: 4838

Average no. of tests per day from 1st to 15th July (during study): 7888

Positive cases among those tested: 4.5% to 6%

During the time of the study, positive cases were on the rise, as a result of which several districts
and eventually the entire state came under lockdown again.
 Qualitative study – where and when Nalanda District

2 districts, 15 blocks, 30 villages

1.July – 15.July 2020

Gaya District

Jalalpur Fatehpur Katari Muhra

Badgaon
Tikari
Dariyarpur

Banbag Gorour
Gaya Ekangardih Bauridoh Thera
Bitho
Imaliya Chak
Atri
Sinr

Kachanpur Bichha
Bagdaha
Sigua

Nanauk

Karmani
Chauari Sarwan
Karhara Mani Chak
Shergati Musehni Sarwan Harijan Tola
 Qualitative study – with whom?

From the organisations

Leaders Pathfinder field staff

Dharma Life staff
Yuvaa Corp couples
Mukhiya (Panchayat head)
Ward member
ASHA
Individuals and households ANM
Anganwadi worker
Jeevika Community Mobiliser & members
Migrants and non-migrants of several categories
Landowners and agricultural labourers
Construction workers
Shopkeepers and employees
Other daily wage earners, unskilled workers
Women and students
Surprising consistency across villages
The study was conducted across diverse villages – villages where the
inhabitants were predominantly migrants, those of agricultural non-
migrants, villages of shopkeepers...

Surprisingly however, the attitude and behaviour of people across these

villages with regard to COVID and to the problem of their livelihood were
consistently the same.

EVERYONE was aware of COVID as well as the preventive measures to be

taken. Yet none followed any measure NOW.

No masks or face cover, no social distancing, no regular washing.

And they have a logical reasoning behind it!

Findings: COVID specific

Past: late March to end May - Lockdown period

Mind-set: From scepticism about COVID to fear and panic.

Action: The villagers shut themselves indoors. They forced migrants to go to quarantine centres or get checked
for fever.

At first, when we told people about the virus and asked

them to wear a mask and maintain social distancing, they
laughed at us. – ASHA worker

We put up barricades around our village, so that the

returning migrants don’t come home directly but get
themselves tested first. – Ward member

My husband and I returned from Delhi in May. I am pregnant so

was in home quarantine, my husband was in a quarantine
centre….. He makes seat covers in Delhi. End June the owner
called him and he had to go back to Delhi. If he had not, his job
would have been given to someone else. – Migrant woman
 Findings: COVID specific
Present: June & July - Unlock period
Mind-set: Panic has left. Many have a निडर (fearless) attitude. With others, it’s a need for life to go on, a need to
earn a living.

The reasoning: No cases in their villages, even after migrants returned home. If anyone showed symptoms, they
were sent for testing. For the villagers, this meant temperature check. If there were no symptoms, there was no
COVID. They believe that COVID is rampant in urban areas, not in their villages.

Action: In the rural areas, no masks, no social-distancing, no sanitisers. They avoid going into urban areas and
wear masks or cover face when they have to. There is a strong belief that covering face would protect them from
the virus completely.

Shehar ki davaa aur dehaath ka havaa baraabar hai (The air in the
village is as good as the medicine in the city) – Young migrant from Surat

My boss is asking me to come back. But I won’t go until Corona cases go

down. I don’t want to be stuck there again because of another lockdown
– Daily wage migrant from Chennai

Here, even if someone has TB they go to work in the field. In the city,
people go to hospital even for a cold. Our immunity levels are high – we do
hard manual work and don’t sit under the AC. So no Corona here –
Agricultural worker

During lockdown, I didn’t drive my auto. Only after unlock I started driving.
But I don’t take passengers to Gaya. Sometimes, there are problems with
police when they see so many in one auto. Also, city has more Corona
cases. So I drive in rural areas. – Auto driver
Interventions: COVID specific

Future

Situation: When testing increases, it is inevitable that cases would emerge in rural areas. The
asymptomatic could also be found positive . While the villagers are aware of the symptoms now, they
are ignorant of the possibility of asymptomatic carriers.

Mind-set: Fear and panic could return.

Possible interventions:
They would need to be educated
• to be receptive to health officials who could visit the villages for random testing.
• on the existing testing procedures.
• on the SOP when fellow villagers test positive.
• on learning to live alongside possible asymptomatic carriers and on the need to use masks and
maintain social distancing and hygiene.

Timely intervention to create awareness would help prevent panic and thereby
the chaos.
Findings – Livelihood

Bihar has one of the highest percentage of

people below poverty line in India (34%).

Reason for migration to other states for livelihood:

Seasonality of agricultural work and the lack of
industries.

The impact of COVID: Adverse effect on livelihood of

migrants as well as those of non-migrants.

The recurring two concerns at every discussion:

FOOD & EMPLOYMENT
Findings – Livelihood (FOOD)
Ration card: A benefit that does not reach all who need it

Almost all categories of households and individuals interviewed were eligible for the
PHH ration card. Unfortunately, a majority of them have issues with obtaining the
ration card or with obtaining rations through the card.

PHH entitlement:
Pre-COVID times: Ration per month per family member
3kg of rice & 2kg of wheat
@ subsidised rate of Rs.3 and Rs.2 per kg for rice and wheat resp.

From April to Nov: Ration per month per family member

Additional 5kg of rice and 1kg of pulses FREE

Proper execution of this scheme would ensure that every family has its basic food
requirements every month. Unfortunately this is not the case.
Findings – Livelihood (FOOD)
Ration card: Why it does not reach all who need it
Widespread corruption & inefficiency in the system

Discrepancies/difficulties:
• Not all eligible households receive a ration card. And then there are ineligible households (economically better)
who are issued one.
• Only migrant workers quarantined in govt. centres in the month of May were eligible for the special ration card.
• The process for eligible households to apply for a ration card has been made difficult.
• At times, not every member of the family is included.
• Biometric mismatch or need for verification are quoted as reasons for withholding issuance of card.
• Ration shop staff withhold part of the monthly rations.

I have applied for a ration card many times.
Every time, I have to spend money on affidavit,
lose a day’s wage, ….. In the end, they give me
some excuse and ask me to reapply.
– Helper from Delhi
The government plans several benefits for us but the
educated middlemen do not allow us to receive them.
– Agricultural labourer

I came back to my village with my family after

the lockdown was lifted. Now I hear that we
would have got a ration card if we had come
during the lockdown.
– Migrant returned from Mumbai
 Findings – Livelihood (EMPLOYMENT)
Men sitting idle all day long.

A common sight during our visits. No jobs, nothing to do. Zero productivity. The most extreme impact of the pandemic.
Agricultural labourers and shopkeepers are exceptions in that they have work, though they have been hit hard too.

Farmers and agricultural labourers: Continue to work though their incomes have been reduced. Causes: Decrease in
demand, prices gone down, problems with logistics. Particularly with vegetable growers.
Shop owners: Turnover reduced. Shop employees: Work on reduced pay. From monthly salary to daily wage. For e.g.
from Rs.4000 pm to Rs.100 per day, on days shop is open.
Construction workers: Less or no jobs available as many families handle construction themselves.
Migrants: No jobs. Live off savings/borrowings.

The country is in unlock mode, but

we are all still in lockdown, stuck
here with no work. – Supervisor in
garment export factory, Gurgaon

It’s monsoon. Need to build a roof in my house.

I’ve hired a mason but the manual work is done
by me along with my brothers-in-law. So I can
reduce cost. Their school is closed now. –
Teacher, private school

Work that we can do, is not available here.

And the work that is available here, we cannot
do. We don’t know anything about agriculture
and we don’t want to do MGNREGA jobs. –
Tailor from Surat
Findings – Livelihood (EMPLOYMENT)

MGNREGA card:
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, (MGNREGA)
The mandate: To provide at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment
in a financial year to every rural household whose adult members
volunteer to do unskilled manual work.

These job cards would benefit unskilled & construction workers,

both returning migrants and the local daily wage earner.
Over two thirds of returning migrants belong to this category.

MGNREGA – Problems in implementation and misuse of cards

• A significant number of workers are unaware of MGNREGA job cards or how to get one or use one.
• Contractors collude with officials and create job cards & bank accounts in the names of people who are not aware of it.
• Those not in the “unskilled” category apply for card, receive it, hand it over to officials and get a cut on the money that is
deposited in their bank account.
• Many genuine job card holders have no idea of how many days of work they have received and that they are eligible for
unemployment benefits if the state does not provide them work for 100 days.
• The daily wage of Rs.194 through job card is much lower than the prevalent average daily wage of Rs.250. Besides a daily
wage earner would prefer to be paid daily and not after a fortnight as is the case through the job card.

Again a beneficial scheme that does not work as planned, due to the discrepancies and exploitation in the system.
 Interventions – LIVELIHOOD

Government initiatives:
• Skill mapping of the migrants who have returned, with the intention of providing them jobs in the near future.
• Proposal to increase MGNREGA work from 100 to 200 days.
As with the ration card and MGNREGA card, the intention of the government is laudable. However, the execution
could face similar issues and be ineffective at ground level.

The community would stand to hugely benefit if an intervention can be designed to:
• Create awareness about the different government schemes and their benefits.
• Assist them in applying for such schemes.
• Ensure that the process is transparent and the community gets its due.
JEEViKA – A positive story
Bihar Rural Livelihoods Project (BRLP), aided by The World Bank, and locally
known as JEEViKA

Its objective: Social & economic empowerment of rural women.

JEEViKA is making a difference in almost

every village that we studied. With close
to 1 million SHGs in Bihar, every other
household is touched by JEEViKA. As a
matter of fact, most of the YUVAA Corp
women are also JEEViKA members.

JEEViKA has been working non-stop

during the COVID pandemic. The women
in SHGs have been attending meetings
during the lockdown and continue to do
so. With migrants returning, even more
women are eager to join JEEViKA Self
Help Groups to find ways to compensate
for the shortfall in their household
income.

An opportunity to use this vast network

of empowered women for any of the
planned interventions?
Impact of COVID – on women
Unplanned pregnancies:
The impact of COVID is perceived as temporary and hence has no bearing in planning the size
of family. With more time together, unplanned pregnancies are inevitable.
Ideal time for YUVAA Corps to make home visits and counselling?

More work: Even in pre-COVID times, it had been women who worked both outside (in
agricultural fields, daily labour, etc.) as well as took care of the housework. Now, they
shoulder additional responsibility since many of the menfolk have lost their jobs.

Exploitation in agricultural work: Women have traditionally been paid 25 to 50% less than
their male counterparts when they work in the fields. While the nature of work may be
different, the time and effort are the same, if not more. Women are more vocal about this
disparity, now that they are often the chief wage earners
during the pandemic.

Domestic violence: With survival (food & work) being

a struggle, the issue of domestic violence is now
brushed aside. And although drinking is rampant among
the men, the state-wide ban on liquor keeps
drinking-induced violence under check to some extent.
Impact of COVID – on students

Education: School-going children now assist

their family in paddy fields and construction
work at home. Will this result in dropouts when
eventually schools reopen?

Government jobs: To break the vicious cycle of

poverty, many in rural Bihar aspire to get a
govt. job (Railways, Defence, teaching, etc.).
This entails preparation for competitive exams.
With no school and no access to online classes,
the pandemic has put a brake on their
aspirations.

Private tuitions: While schools are closed,

school children now take private tuitions
instead, which are being conducted in cramped
rooms in makeshift centres.
Impact of COVID – on Maha Dalits
The most exploited community in the best of times. The pandemic has only made things
worse.

Irony of the MGNREGA job card: While those in general communities look down on
MGNREGA jobs, considering them as fit only for Maha Dalits, in reality very few Maha Dalits
manage to get MGNREGA jobs. These jobs are appropriated by those from the OBC & EBC.

Brick kiln workers: Traditionally, the Bhuiya & Manjhi community of the Maha Dalits have
been working in brick kilns. These are neo-bondage. With the loss of livelihood in these COVID
times, more from the community would be forced to borrow from the brick kiln
agents/owners and get pulled into the debt trap.

No minimum wages, appalling work conditions and no option of getting out.

 A human-centric study to create
a Photo-Fiction story for social change!

Author & photographer: Ram Prakash

Co-author: Deepa Pinto