It has been a year since India went on a sudden and underprepared lockdown. The government imposed nationwide lockdown on March 24 to combat the spread of the novel corona virus. The abrupt nationwide lockdown imposed across India was the biggest in the world, forcing 1.3 billion Indians to stay indoors. It was one of the most stringent lockdowns enforced in the world. India’s $2.9 trillion economy remained shuttered during the lockdown period. The lockdown had devastating impacts on a slowing economy and people’s livelihoods as shops, eateries, factories, transport, services and business establishments were shuttered.
So, let’s take a brief look at the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on the country.
The pandemic was detrimental on the job landscape in India. According to Nomura India Business Resumption Index, during the lockdown, an estimated 14 crore people lost employment while salaries were cut for many others. More than 45% of households across the nation reported an income drop as compared to the previous year.
As per official data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, the Indian economy contracted by 23.9% in the April-June quarter of this fiscal year. This is the worst decline ever recorded since India.
Except for agriculture, all the major sectors of the economy were badly hit. Significantly, labour-intensive sectors such as construction, real estate, retail trade, transport and manufacturing contracted sharply during this quarter.
The different phases of India’s lockdown up to the “first unlock” on 1 June had varying degrees of the opening of the economy. On 17 April, the RBI Governor announced more measures to counter the economic impact of the pandemic including ₹50,000 crore special finance to NABARD, SIDBI, and NHB. On 18 April, to protect Indian companies during the lockdown, the government changed India’s foreign direct investment policy.
On 12th May the Prime Minister announced an overall economic stimulus package worth ₹20 lakh crore which is 10% of India’s GDP, with emphasis on India as a self-reliant nation. During the next five days the Finance Minister announced the details of the economic package. Two days later the Cabinet cleared a number of proposals in the economic package including a free food grains package. On 12 October and 12 November, the government announced two more economic stimulus packages, bringing the total economic stimulus to ₹29.87 lakh crore which is 15 % of the GDP.
The lockdown also brought various lifestyle changes. Online learning, meetings etc were introduced and are now here to stay. A rise in online learning was seen both in urban and rural areas.
People have started taking personal hygiene more seriously. The ritual of washing hands, sanitizing things before use, that started as a compulsion is now a habit.
Work from Home is one major change that has become a part of our lives. Well, honestly it was never a new concept. But, Covid 19 has taken it to another level with almost all companies asking its employees to work from home.
Coronavirus really brought India to its knees. Businesses shut, schools and colleges closed, travel banned. The entire country in a complete lockdown. However, the country came out of the lockdown strong and is now emerging as a global leader in the fight against the virus through its vaccine initiatives and rescue operations. Post-lockdown this is a new India- stronger, resilient and aatmanirbhar.