NATIONWIDE LOCKDOWN HAS LED A DENT ON ECONOMY

In the last week of December 2019 the spread of a virus was reported in Wuhan , China. Little did anyone foresee the unprecedented spread of the virus throughout the globe and it's immense impact. The virus would eventually spread to each and every country and getting declared as an Epidemic at first and later declared as a Pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). The virus as we know by the name of COVID-19 caused havoc. The spread of the virus overburdened the healthcare systems of every country and caused them to crumble. Very little information of the virus coupled with it's spread and deaths caused invoked a feeling of fear among the common mass. The Government of all countries started imposing restrictions and various curbs to prevent the spread of the virus. The "new norms" like social distancing , sanitizing and wearing a mask came into existence. Among the various curbs there were thermal testing , travel restrictions and above all - Nationwide Lockdowns. 

Nationwide Lockdowns were seen as an inevitable measure to be taken by the leaders of the country to put a full stop to the spread and "flatten the curve". Many European countries saw a tremendous spike in COVID 19 cases few weeks after the initial information about the virus. They were completely unprepared and were taken aback by the virus tearing apart the country. In India however the spread and rise of cases didn't happen until March. On 24th March , the Prime Minster of India addressed the nation at 8:00 pm and imposed a lockdown of 21 days which was then the biggest lockdown in the entire country. This measure was deemed necessary and inevitable. The Prime Minister also said  "Jaan hai toh jahaan hai" putting the life of the people over that of the economy of the country. The impact of lockdown was vast , probably more than what a common man would've anticipated. Due to the lockdown the economy suffered because of which many employees lost their jobs , many more faced salary cuts , daily wage workers became unemployed and were left without shelter, money or food amidst the pandemic. 

By far it was the migrant labourers and unorganised sector workers who were hit the hardest during the pandemic and lockdown. The scenes of the mass exodus of the migrant workers were heartbreaking. They left for their home on their foot as it was better than staying in city with no food , work , shelter. Many complained that a notice should've been given before the lockdown so that they could leave rather than getting stuck. Many of them never made home as they passed away enroute due to heat , exhaustion and hunger. The absence of comprehensive data on domestic migrant workers makes it difficult to communicate or reach out to them with financial support, food security or healthcare services efficiently. Despite this, migrant workers are the backbone of several sectors in the country and their contributions are significant in infrastructure development, food processing, manufacturing, textiles, security forces, domestic service and even in tea and cardamom plantations. 

With labourers displaced as factories were shut the economy came to a standstill. It is believed that the lockdown amplified the already existing economical problems in the country. The GDP growth had crashed 23.9% in response to the centre’s no notice lockdown. India’s GDP shrank 7.3% in 2020-21. This was the worst performance of the Indian economy in any year since independence. As of now, India’s GDP growth rate is likely to be below 10 per cent. Major companies in India such as Larsen & Toubro, Bharat Forge, UltraTech Cement, Grasim Industries, Aditya Birla Group, BHEL and Tata Motors temporarily suspended or significantly reduced operations. Young startups have been impacted as funding has fallen. 

Not only India but every other country was suffering economically but India's economic woes were the worst along with UK. Both the countries had pre lockdown economic problems which were exploited massively during the lockdown. Unemployment followed the same trajectory as that of the cases in COVID with both being on the rise. 

Unemployment rose from 6.7% on 15 March to 26% on 19 April . 

The sectors of hospitality and tourism was racked with pain. With imposed lockdown no one could leave their houses let alone travel and also due to fear of virus people decided not to travel post lockdown. The agriculture sector was the only sector which recorded some growth while the whole GDP of the country took a massive hit. Due to less strict restrictions in urban areas and cheaper labours available. Maybe the rich people lost millions in net worth but had millions more whereas the common people who might have worked for the companies of the rich lost the only livelihood they had and faced several hardship in sustaining themselves as well as their families.

Economy was expected to revive and the numbers of unemployment were expected to reach pre-lockdown levels. After the first wave the second and third waves were managed by states rather than the centre, as a result we did not have a National lockdown again but the repetitive waves of COVID prevented the revival of economy and many people kept on suffering.State of Working India 2021: One year of Covid-19 by Azim Premji University has brought out that 23 crore individuals have fallen below the national minimum wage of Rs 375 as recommended.

Due to so many jobs lost the spending power of an average Indian was reduced massively which further affects the economy. Many economic experts are of the opinion that taxes should be reduced so that the prices drop and people spend on buying items which would revive the economy. Sooner or later the factories will go back to pre pandemic levels and manufacturing of goods will increase which provide not only jobs but increase the GDP of the country too. With so many people flocking back to their homes creating job opportunity and improving infrastructure of rural India should be prioritised too. Having taken a massive hit it will take some time before the numbers reach pre-pandemic levels and before it crosses that level. It could be argued that after a certain period of time all will be well but the effects of lockdown and COVID slowed down the economic growth. It had a huge impact on many families across the country who lost their jobs especially migrant labourers that is why "NATIONWIDE LOCKDOWN HAS LED A DENT ON ECONOMY " which may overcome but cannot be forgotten.