COVID-19: Examining the Impact of Lockdown in India after One Year
One year after its announcement in March 2020, the consequences of India’s strict COVID-19 lockdown measures and ineffective policy responses continue to be felt, be it in terms of livelihood loss and economic downturn or increased marginalisation of vulnerable sections of society.
On 24 March 2020, with approximately 500 confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 reported in India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the country and declared a nationwide lockdown. He announced that “a total ban is being imposed on people, from stepping out of their homes for a period of 21 days.” The lockdown, which would be in operation from the midnight of 24–25 March, was announced with only four hours’ notice.
A step back in gender equality
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Updated:
January 12, 2021 11:06 IST
Paying women for domestic and care work is a recognition of their efforts but may not reduce and redistribute their burden
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Paying women for domestic and care work is a recognition of their efforts but may not reduce and redistribute their burden
Is the electoral promise of paying women for carrying out domestic work and care work a progressive public policy? The proposal, put forth by Kamal Haasan’s political party, Makkal Needhi Maiam, has generated curiosity and reopened the old but unsettled academic debate. On the face of it, the proposal might appear progressive. However, closer scrutiny suggests otherwise.
Worsening of child nutrition calls for immediate and decisive course correction
A complacent approach that assumes that all necessary measures, including the Poshan Abhiyan, are in place and the reversal in progress is only momentary will be a sure way to inflict a debilitating, irreversible impact on children’s nutrition and their well-being. Updated: December 19, 2020 10:14:40 am
The first phase of NFHS-5, held during 2019-2020, covered 17 states and five Union territories.
Did child undernutrition in India worsen during the COVID-19pandemic? The consensus is: yes, most likely. But did we do well in reducing child undernutrition before the lockdown? Surprisingly, the answer is “no”. That child undernutrition in India had begun worsening well before the pandemic is one of the poignant takeaways from the just released key indicators from the first phase of the National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5). This is, indeed, a cause for serious