By Dr Soumyadip Chattopadhyay, Dr Arjun Kumar, Sunidhi Agarwal, Nikhil Jacob
The exodus of migrant workers to their home states due to loss of livelihood in the wake of the Covid-19 induced lockdown was unprecedented. It brought unimaginable hardship to these city makers who thrived on the low paid and unstable jobs provided by their foster cities. The pandemic exposed the ill-preparedness of the urban spaces in handling such a crisis. This is corroborated by data which shows that the urban areas were much more affected during the lockdown and had a poor recovery rate post lockdown, in comparison to the rural areas, noted Dr Amit Basole. He was delivering a special lecture on urban employment and social policy in the wake of Covid-19, organized by Impact and Policy Research Institute (IMPRI), New Delhi.