Gloom & Doom

A survey on Covid’s impact on informal workers has found that unemployment is still considerably high and that quality jobs in urban areas have disappeared, while there is underemployment in rural India

- Rahul Suresh Sapkal

FOUR months into the unlocking phase there is still no speedy economic recovery. Although many units in the manufacturing and service sectors have resumed work in urban areas, the performance is much lower than expected. Rural India, once considered a safe haven, has also been hit hard, showing a slow recovery rate.

Around 12 states resorted to partial lockdowns in July and August due to the sudden increase in Covid-19 cases. This halted the recovery period and had an undesired impact on large conglomerations. As part of its longitudinal study on the impact of Covid-19 on informal workers, ActionAid Association (2020) conducted a national survey across 23 states and five Union Territories during the lockdown and unlock phases.

According to the findings, only aro und 10 percent of workers were em ployed on a full-time basis, while 42 percent were either employed part-time or had worked occasionally since unlocking began. Close to 48 percent of workers said that they were unemployed at the time of the interview. Hence, al th ough unemployment levels have fallen as compared to the lockdown, it is still considerably high, while underemployment seems to be an ascendant phenomenon.

The unemployment rate in rural areas was 53 percent, i.e. 1.5 times that in the urban areas, which was 36 percent. Of those respondents who reported resumption of employment, either fully or partially, 60 percent were casual workers; 23 percent were regular workers; 4 percent were own-account workers (engaged in household-based production) and 14 percent, self-employed (in non-household-based production).