COVID- 19 AND ITS IMPACT ON

DAILY WAGE WORKERS AND

INDIAN ECONOMY
About YEF

“Youths are the arrow to the future”- Ifeanyi Enoch Onuoha.

Youth Empowerment Foundation is an organization to give direction to these arrows

through their initiatives and programms. Empowering youths to grow , learn and be
the major impacts organization aims to achieve. YEF is a non profit organization
founded in June 2017 by Mr.Rambabu Sharma, inspired by his own life journey.
Education in all different forms is a key to breaking the cycle of poverty. YEF is
providing a platform that will help these children to grow for themselves as well as
for the society. Skills taught by YEF such as additional language to help these
children to be their own and hence to be strongest pillers of the society in every
aspect. It also helps to develop their confidence.
Covid-19

Coronavirus is a very deadly virus which affected whole world and it cause loss of lives as well as
money. Many health expert believe that It was firstly originated in Wuhan, China in 2020 then from there
it spread all over in the world. On March 11, 2020 the world health organization announced covid19 as a
pandemic. The most common way that this virus spreads through close contact with someone who has
the infection. India also got affected from this virus in 2020. Despite of imposing lockdown virus
continuous to rise and many people died because of this virus. But people were hoping that once vaccine
of this will created then this virus can be curbed and in 2021 we actually have the vaccine but the
condition of 2021 is more serious than 2020 the cases of coronavirus tremendously increased to 2.4 core
and death rate to 2.5 lacks and it is still going on.
That is why the main problem of concern right now is covid-19. Whole world is fighting with Covid 19
and it impacted everyone and took many lives. Apart from that economy is adversely affected from
coved gap goes down factories and company’s shuts down lot of people lose their jobs. And the
healthcare services has been collapsed they don’t have enough beds and oxygen for the patient due to
this death case increased also. But poorer section of the society is the one who are suffering a lot from
covid-19. As many of the poor people they are daily wage workers but due to lockdown they lost their
source of income and could not able to get food and other necessary item for themselves and their
families. Apart from this they are even not getting proper treatment once they effect of the virus so they
surrounded from all the sided. It is very tough situation for them.
Impact of Covid-19 on Indian economy
 
The impact of corona virus pandemic on India has been largely disruptive in terms of economic activity as well as
a loss of human lives. Almost all the sectors have been adversely affected as domestic demand and exports sharply
plummeted with some notable exceptions where high growth was observed. An attempt is made to analyze the
impact and possible solutions for some key sectors.
FOOD & Agriculture
Since agriculture is the backbone of the country and a part of the government announced essential category, the
impact is likely to be low on both primary agricultural production and usage of agro-inputs. Several state
governments have already allowed free movement of fruits, vegetables, milk etc. Online food grocery platforms are
heavily impacted due to unclear restrictions on movements and stoppage of logistics vehicles. RBI and Finance
Minister announced measures will help the industry and the employees in the short term. Insulating the rural
food production areas in the coming weeks will hold a great answer to the macro impact of COVID-19 on Indian
food sector as well as larger economy.
PHARMACEUTICALS
The pharmaceutical industry has been on the rise since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, especially in India, the
largest producer of generic drugs globally. With a market size of $55 billion during the beginning of 2020, it has
been surging in India, exporting Hydroxychloroquine to the world, esp. to the US, UK, Canada, and the Middle-
East.
There has been a recent rise in the prices of raw materials imported from China due to the pandemic. Generic
drugs are the most impacted due to heavy reliance on imports, disrupted supply-chain, and labour unavailability
in the industry, caused by social distancing. Simultaneously, the pharmaceutical industry is struggling because of
the government-imposed bans on the export of critical drugs, equipment, and PPE kits to ensure sufficient
quantities for the country. The increasing demand for these drugs, coupled with hindered accessibility is making
things harder. Easing the financial stress on the pharmaceutical companies, tax-relaxations, and addressing the
labour force shortage could be the differentiating factors in such a desperate time.
AVIATION & TOURISM
The contribution of the Aviation Sector and Tourism to our GDP stands at about 2.4% and 9.2% respectively.
The Tourism sector served approximately 43 million people in FY 18-19. Aviation and Tourism were the first
industries that were hit significantly by the pandemic. The common consensus seems to be that COVID will hit
these industries harder than 9/11 and the Financial Crisis of 2008. These two industries have been dealing with
severe cash flow issues since the start of the pandemic and are staring at a potential 38 million lay-offs, which
translates to 70 per cent of the total workforce. The impact is going to fall on both, White and Blue collar jobs.
According to IATO estimates, these industries may incur losses of about 85 billion Rupees due to travel
restrictions. The Pandemic has also brought about a wave of innovation in the fields of contactless boarding and
travel technologies.

BEYOND COVID-19: THE NEW NORMAL

In view of the scale of disruption caused by the pandemic, it is evident that the current downturn is
fundamentally different from recessions. The sudden shrinkage in demand & increased unemployment is going
to alter the business landscape. Adopting new principles like ‘shift towards localization, cash conservation,
supply chain resilience and innovation’ will help businesses in treading a new path in this uncertain
environment.
The impact of COVID-19 on the daily wage workers
The COVID-19 is a globe-spanning health and socio-economic crisis. Its impact can be seen directly at the
local level, where it amplifies the pre-existing socio-economic condition in our cities. Along with news of
fatalities, our country has witnessed enough disturbing visuals of discrimination, hunger and poverty as well.
On the other hand, we also saw the benevolent side of many institutes, firms and individuals who have
reached out to those in need. This also led to many of us probing the socio-economic structure we have
embraced.

Due to unexpected lockdown, labourers were asked to return home during the period and thus unemployment
increased drastically in India. The COVID-19 outbreak has severely impacted labourers in India, especially
Those working in the informal sectors who constitute 90% of India’s workforce. Indian informal economy is
looking at a job loss for 400 million people. More than 300 deaths of migrant workers where reported up to
5th may 2020, caused due to lack of food, suicides, physical exhaustion and exertion, road and rail accidents,
police brutality and lack of timely quality medical care.
 Indian migrant workers during the COVID-19 pandemic have faced multiple hardships. With
factories and workplaces shut down due to the lockdown imposed in the country, millions of migrant
workers had to deal with the loss of income, food shortages and uncertainty about their future.
Following this, many of them and their families went hungry. Thousands of them then began walking
back home, with no means of transport due to the lockdown. In response, the Central and State
Governments took various measures to help them, and later arranged transport for them.
The Ministry of Labour and Employment stated in September 2020, in Parliament, that the Government of
India had not maintained any data on the number of migrant worker deaths that occurred during the COVID-
19 pandemic in India. Unofficial estimates have been prepared by a number of sources. A group of
independent researchers were quoted by CNN-News18 as stating that 971 deaths not directly caused by
COVID-19 diagnoses had occurred as of July 2020, basing their total on news reports of such deaths during
the lockdown.

The ordinary worker during a pandemic struck catastrophe was forced to become more and more dependent
on debt-entrapping, ultra-exploitative, asset-owning class of workers and informal money lenders, which has
only made their living condition worse over time. Despite the government’s efforts to ensure food-security
during the months of the lockdown and thereafter, most workers were unable to avail the benefits of
receiving ration packages.
Conclusion
• As a result of Covid 19 most of the daily wage workers has lost their jobs.
• More than billion people are adversely effected
• Introduction of Subsidies and Stimulus Packages.
• Health care related benefits can also help to protect the daily wage workers and their families.
• Free access to Covid 19 testing as well as screening irrespective to their status. This are all
strategically very correct moves to help the Daily wage workers from impact of Covid 19.
THANK YOU