HIS 101 CIA 1

TITLE:- EXPERIENCES AND RESPONSES TO PANDEMIC

WRITTEN BY: M.ANCY JOWINA

REGISTER NUMBER: 2330959

1BAHP

SUBMITTED TO : Dr.K K Loung Nathan

DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL STUDIES,

POLITICAL SCIENCE AND HISTORY

SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES AND

SOCIAL SCIENCE

[AUGUST, 2023]
 FIG:1 CORONAVIRUS
INTRODUCTION:

Coronavirus[COVID19] pandemic was started in the

Chinese city named Wuhan,it soon spread to numerous nations
with numerous cases being documented globally. Over 56,342
positive cases were registered as on the month of May 8th 2020 in
India.With the population of over 1.34 billion,India has the second
largest population in the world[ according to 2020, now in 2023
India is the populous country in the world with 1.42 billion people]
and it was difficult time for India to prevent the spread of COVID
19 that caused severe acute respiratory syndrome.

To deal with this massive COVID outbreak it is necessary to take

several approaches to control the spreading COVID cases.These
include quick creation of new medication as well as computational
modelling,statistical tools,analytical thinking,reasoning and
quantitative analysis to control the spread.

The Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has made the
public aware of the epidemic and taken required steps. There are
several negative consequences that people faced during COVID 19
pandemic in several aspects such as physical,social,economical and
mental. Let's see a few responses of people and the government to
the pandemic.
 FIG 2 SOURCE:TIMES OF INDIA

MIGRANT WORKERS:
The economic survey indicates about 93% of India’s
workforce is employed in the unorganised sector.People go from
rural to metropolitan areas in search of economic
possibilities,where they work in unorganised jobs to combat their
poverty. Pandemics are impacting humanity as a whole ,but
poverty and hunger are also disturbing poor people and migrant
workers.

The above image states the volume of interstate migration between

states,among all the cities in India ,Hyderabad was in second place
with 64.3 percent of the overall population,behind Pune with 64.8
percent.When it comes to migration,the greater Mumbai area
ranks third with 54.9 percent of the total.
On the other side,when comparing the percentage of interstate
migration to all migrants ,Mumbai accounts for 46 percent and
Delhi for 87.8 percent.The interstate migration ranks the city of
Bengaluru in third rank.

Due to the lack of identity and habitation proof, most activities

aimed at the poor should have no impact on them. The failure to
fully address the economic,social,cultural and political privileges of
migrant workers.

ADVERSE EFFECT OF COVID 19 ON MIGRANT WORKERS

The relocation and movement of people are blamed

for the spread of the corona virus from Wuhan,China to the rest of
the world.Lockdown is likely to result in unparalleled failure of the
social and economic structure in a civilised society. Most
vulnerable to all urban disasters and pandemics are migrant
labourers.

The primary COVID19 incident occurred in India on January

30,2020. Nationwide lockdown was declared on March 24,for a
period of 21 days. Boundaries were sealed, motion became
immovable and all types of financial activities aside from those
required for survival were closed .This turned out to be terrifying
for thousands of migrant workers ,who drastically lost their
income and lost all of their possessions.The sudden encounters that
these migrant workers face are related to housing , loss of income,
nourishment, and fear over contracting an illness. As the result,
thousands of workers began fleeing to their native locations from
numerous cities. a number of migrants perished either as a result
of malnutrition , poverty on the journey, an accident , or the
suicide of others.

The migrant workers who participated in unorganised

workers lost their jobs. Due to lack of compensation ,the migrant
workers suffer from hunger and destitution. Once their advance
payment was finished for three straight months, they were forced
to leave since they were unable to pay their landlords rent. Due to
these financial difficulties , the migrant workers decided to go
without transportation back to their starting point[ their
hometown].

According to UN reports ,it has been challenging to effectively

interact with or reach out to domestic migrant workers in order to
provide financial assistance, food security, or healthcare services.
The country's infrastructure, food processing, manufacturing,
textiles, security forces, domestic service, and even tea and
cardamom plantations rely heavily on migrant workers, who form
the backbone of many industries.

Nearly 70% of the respondents to this study were under the age of
35, and 96% of them were married. After finishing primary school,
almost 70% of them left education. Due to these constraints and
the extremely restricted opportunities they have as a result of their
lack of formal education and work experience, they are forced to
be daily wage employees.

Based on information from the Census 2011, it was determined

that the proportion of migrants to the overall population varied by
city, with Delhi accounting for 43.1%, Mumbai for 54.9%, Kolkata
for 40.8%, Chennai for 51.8%, Bangalore for 52.3%, Hyderabad
for 64.3%, Ahmedabad for 48.7%, and Pune for 64.8%. According
to reports from a research, the city of Delhi reported the most
COVID-19 cases as of April 13th, 2020, with 898 cases, followed by
Mumbai with 880. In these urban areas, 38% of all COVID-19
cases were reported (Bhagat et al., 2020).
 FIG 3 [Source:baps charities.org]

MEASURES TAKEN BY THE INDIAN GOVERNMENT TO

FIGHT COVID 19 IN THE FACE OF A PANDEMIC [MINISTRY
OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE]

The Indian government has continually taken proactive measures

to combat the COVID pandemic and has improved the health
system’s capacity to handle all the facets of COVID 19
management. Throughout the epidemic ,India maintained one of
the highest recovery rates worldwide along with one of the lowest
positive and fatality rates. The nation's ability to conduct research
and create vaccinations for COVID19 provided a significant boost
to its public health initiatives.On the basis of scientific data and
international best practices, the vaccination push was planned out
well in advance.The government adopted a multifaceted approach
to combat COVID19 ,which was successful in halting the spread of
the epidemic in the nation.

To address the problems caused by the pandemic, a broad array of

actions that address all the facets of the society and all potential
health sector needs have been implemented.
On March 29,2020, the Indian government established 11
empowered groups to manage various parts of COVID19 across
the nation and make decisions about things like;:

1. Medical emergency planning

2. Hospital availability

3. Ensuring the availability of necessary medical

supplies

4. Enhancing human resource and capacity building

5. Managing the supply chain and logistics

6. Cooperating with commercial sector

7. Information,communication and public awareness

8. Economic and welfare policies

9. Technology and data management

10. Complaints from public

Government has also opened numerous testing labs to detect the

covid cases and it was increased to 3062 labs .

ONE COVID 19 VACCINATION DRIVE

The biggest ever,PRIME MINISTER NARENDRA MODI

introduced India’s immunisation plan on 16, 2021, which is the
greatest immunisation campaign for COVID 19 in history.

Through special sessions where 100% vaccination is completed

through on-site registration by the vaccinator in accordance with
the prescribed procedure ,there is provision to facilitate vaccination
of persons without prescribed identity cards, such as migrants
seers, nomads, refugees, destitute, homeless people, beggars ,etc..

Government took lots of steps to control the rising cases of COVID

19 and somehow it was tackled by the government and people by
following the rules and restrictions and now people are living the
normal life after a great death wave.
 References

Singha, surjit, and ranjit singha. 2020. “impact of covid-19 on

economy,business,education and social life.Volume 2.” The

Native Tribe.

https://www.thenativetribe.org/book/impact-of-covid-19/c19-vol-

2.

“Effective Response in the face of a Pandemic: Measures Adopted by

the Government of India to Combat COVID-19 (Ministry of

Health.” Press Information Bureau, 24 December 2021,

https://static.pib.gov.in/WriteReadData/specificdocs/documents/2

021/dec/doc2021122421.pdf. Accessed 6 August 2023.

“Centre released Rs 11,092 cr for migrant workers during first Covid

lockdown: MHA | India News - Times of India.” The Times of

India, 27 April 2022,

https://m.timesofindia.com/india/centre-released-rs-11092-cr-for-

migrant-workers-during-first-covid-lockdown-mha/amp_articlesh

ow/91122665.cms. Accessed 6 August 2023.

“COVID-19 Pandemic Response (India Focus) • BAPS Charities.”

BAPS Charities, https://www.bapscharities.org/usa/covid-19/.

Accessed 6 August 2023.

“Researching the Impact of the Pandemic on Internal Migrant Workers

in India | United Nations.” the United Nations,

https://www.un.org/en/academic-impact/researching-impact-pandemic-

internal-migrant-workers-india. Accessed 6 August 2023.

Jesline, Joshy. “The plight of migrant during COVID-19 and the impact

of circular migration in India;a systematic review.” The plight of

migrant during COVID-19 and the impact of circular migration in

India;a systematic review, 14 October 2021,

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-021-00915-6.