Journal of Global Resources
Volume 6 (01a)https://doi.org/10.46587/JGR.2020.v06si01.006

Special Issue June 2020
Page 44-49
ISSN: 2455-2445 (Online)

06
CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACT OF COVID19 PANDEMIC WITH
SPECIAL REFERENCE TO INDIA
1

Sandesh Yadav* and 2Shams Perwaiz
Freelance Researcher, New Delhi, India
2Teacher, Sr. High School, Jokihat, Araria, Bihar, India*Corresponding author’s email: sandesh_official@yahoo.in
1

Abstract: Corona Virus Disease (COVID19) shattered and disturbed the horizontal and verticallayers of Indian society. India, a developing nation, prioritized the life of citizens and successfully
managed to minimize the losses of lives at the cost of huge socio-economic losses. The collective
decision of ‘complete lockdown’ by the government (both Central and the State governments)
saved India from entering into havoc as faced by developed nation’s viz. Italy and USA. Though,socio-economic issues related to unorganized sectors, agricultural production, reverse migrationand disguise unemployment came into the scene. The present article traces out the stage-wise
spread of COVID19 across the globe. The study narrows down to the scenario of India and thespread of COVID19 in the different states of India. Further, the study describes about ‘Complete
Lockdown’ as a measure of social distancing and its impact on socio-economic life of people.
Moreover, the study discusses how lockdown helped in minimizing the spread of COVID19 inIndia. Lastly, discussion on the role of community-based organizations (CBD), non-profit
organizations (NGOs) and civil societies in India’s ongoing battle against the COVID19 has been
incorporated.
Key words: COVID-19, Lockdown, Social Distancing, Socio-Economic Impact. Migration
Introduction
The spread of the virus from the laboratories of Wuhan city, China created havoc in the city andlater on, engulfed the entire globe. This virus became popular as ‘Coronavirus’ though it wasofficially named as ‘Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2)’ by the‘International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTN) world’ and gave rise to ‘Coronavirus
disease 2019’ (COVID-19) named collectively by the World Organization for Animal Health andFood and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. WHO declared COVID19 as
pandemic and issued precautionary measures in order to minimize the human-to-humantransmission of COVID19. Though, the reverse migration of human beings from China to theirrespective home countries and conditions were worsened by the mobility within their home country.
Ignorance and delayed actions worsened the situation of a country like Italy and the United Statesof America.
World Health Organization (WHO) divided the world into six regions viz. western pacific region,
south-east Asia region, a region of the Americas, European region, Eastern Mediterranean regionand others. WHO kept a regular check on the spread of ‘Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV)’ andreleased situation reports at a regular interval of time. In these, situation reports WHO mentioned‘to and fro’ visit China as the major cause of the spread of 2019-nCoV and apart from this, people
outside China got infected due to one or the other reason (parcels from China etc.). As per thesituation report-22, China was the worst sufferer with 42,708 confirmed cases and responsible forthe spread of Coronavirus. The situation report-22 shows that 159 people (across the globe) got
infected during their visit to China and on their way back to home infected many others. Likewise,
90 people were reported to be infected outside China (across the globe) due to one or the other44

reason. As per the situation report-22 of World Health Organization (WHO), China got hit by thevirus in the worst possible manner with 42,708 confirmed cases out of which 7333 were severe
and 1017 people died (as on 11 February 2020). This report reflected a worrisome picture
regarding the spread of Coronavirus and things turned into reality. A boom was experienced in thespread of Coronavirus across the globe and cases were reported from every country. Countries
like Italy, Spain, and United States of America got hit by the spread of Coronavirus in the worst
possible manner.
Table 01: Countries with Maximum Number 0f Cases of COVID19
WHO Region

Situation Report - 22
(11 Feb. 2020)
Confirmed
Total
cases
deathsSituation Report - 72
(1 April 2020)
Confirmed
Total
cases
deathsSituation Report - 101(30 April 2020)
Confirmed
Total
cases
deathsWestern Pacific Region
China
42,7081017
82,631
3321
84373
4643
Republic of Korea
2809887
165
10765
1247
Japan
26021785714088
415
Australia
1504707
20674690
Philippine
312084888212
558
Malaysia
1802766435945100
Singapore450926315641
14
New Zealand
--647
11129
19
European region
Spain
20944179222
212917
24275
Italy
30
10,57924053
203591
27682
Germany14067366
732
1591196288
France11051477
3514
12706624054
The United Kingdom
8025154
1789
16522526097
Turkey-013531214117589
3081
Belgium
1012775705
478597501
Netherlands
-0
12595
1039
38802
4711
Switzerland-016108
373
29324
1407
Russian Federation
20233717106498
1073
Portugal-07443
160
24505
973
Austria-10182
128
15364
580
Israel-0
5129
2115782
212
Sweden104435
180
20302
2462
Ireland-032357120253
1190
South East Asia regionIndia3016363833050
1074
East Mediterranean
RegionIran--44606
2898
93657
5957
Region of America
United States of America
130163199
2850
100397452428
Canada70769589503632904
Brazil--4579
159
71886
5017
African Region
South Africa--1353
55350
103
Algeria--584
353848444
Source: Corona virus disease 2019 (COVID19), Situation Reports-22, 72, 101, World Health Organization (WHO).
Note: Countries which experienced the boom in cases of COVID19 during 11 February 2020 - 30 April 2020 have been taken in theabove table.

Indian Scenario of the spread of COVID19
The number of COVID19 cases has increased rapidly from 3 confirmed cases (as on 11 th February2020) to 96,245 confirmed cases (as on 18th May 2020). The data shows that Maharashtra (33053)
tops the list and is worst sufferer due to COVID19. The cases majorly reported from Dharavi(Asia’s largest slum) due to poor living conditions, improper precautionary measures, congested
housing conditions etc. The other factors which were responsible include reverse migration andlack of awareness regarding COVID19. The second in the list is Delhi (National Capital of India)
with 10054 confirmed cases as on (18th May 2020) and the possible reasons for such a highnumber of cases are domestic migration and international migration from countries like the UnitedStates of America, Canada, Saudi Arabia, China. In similar lines, Gujarat (11380 confirmed cases)
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being a center of trade and commerce experienced a tremendous increase in COVID19 cases.
The same is the case of Rajasthan (5342 confirmed cases) and Tamil Nadu (11224 confirmedcases). The States like Madhya Pradesh (4977 confirmed cases) and Uttar Pradesh (4464
confirmed cases) faced the reverse migration of poor labour class from other States. The States
like Telangana (1551 confirmed cases), Andhra Pradesh (2432 confirmed cases), Karnataka (1147confirmed cases), Kerala (602 confirmed cases), West Bengal (2677 confirmed cases), Jammuand Kashmir (1183 confirmed cases) are about to enter the third stage of community transmissionof COVID19. On the other hand, States like Haryana (910 confirmed cases), Punjab (1964confirmed cases), Bihar (1326 confirmed cases), Odisha (876 confirmed cases), Jharkhand (223
confirmed cases), Uttarakhand (92 confirmed cases), Himachal Pradesh (80 confirmed cases) andChhatisgarh (85 confirmed cases) have controlled number of cases. Unlike to these, seven sisters
viz. Meghalaya (13 confirmed cases), Manipur (7 confirmed cases), Tripura (165 confirmed cases)
and Arunachal Pradesh (1 confirmed cases) and Mizoram (1 confirmed cases). The possible
reasons for such low figures are the less domestic movement towards these States and lessdensity of population.
Figure 01: Countries with Maximum Number of COVID19 Cases, Western Pacific Region, 2020
90000
80000
70000
60000
50000
40000
30000
20000
10000
0
Situation report-22
China

Republic of Korea

Situation report-72
Japan

Australia

Phillipines

Situation report-101
Malaysia

Singapore

New ZealandFigure 02: Countries with Maximum Number of COVID19 Cases, European Region, 2020
25000020000015000010000050000
0Situation report-22
SpainItaly

Germany

FranceSituation report-72
The United Kingdom46

TurkeySituation report-101
Belgium

Netherlands

Switzerland

Figure 03: Countries with Maximum Number of COVID19 Cases, South East Asia Region, 2020
35000
30000
25000
20000
15000
10000
50000Situation report-22
India

Situation report-72
Indonesia

ThailandBangladesh

Situation report-101
Sri Lanka

Measures taken by Government of India
The Government of India (GOI) took the spread of Coronavirus into consideration and issued
preliminary warnings and precautionary measures to the citizens to keep themselves safe from theCOVID19. But later on, the Government of India realized the seriousness of COVID19 and started
taking steps to curb this infection before it creates havoc in our country. The governmental steps
and measures can be summed up chronologically as under: Preliminary warnings regarding the ways of transmission of Coronavirus and the impact onhuman body after getting infected. The precautionary measures like use of N95 masks, use ofsanitizers, personal hygiene and other Do’s and Don’t in order to avoid infection.
 Citizens were encouraged to share their travel history (both domestic and international) sothat infected travelers can be quarantined properly in order to avoid the spread of Coronavirus.
 To minimize the gathering, Government of India issued orders to shut down schools,
colleges, universities, offices (both public and private) and ‘work from home’ the culture waspromoted.
 With a rise in the number of cases in China, Italy, and United States of America compelled
the Government of India to visualize the havoc and consequently, implementation of ‘Janta
Curfew’ was done on 22nd March 2020.
 The co-operation of citizens and an ultimate way to minimize the number of cases ofCOVID19, Government of India announced ‘complete lockdown’ from 23rd March 2020 to 15thApril 2020. There was no movement of any kind and citizens were asked to ‘stay at home’ fortheir better and healthy future. Though the complete lockdown helped in slowing down thepace of COVID19 cases but the potential danger made the government extend the ‘complete
lockdown’ from 16th April 2020 to 03rd May 2020. Likewise, ‘lockdown’ was extended from 4th
May 2020 to 17th May 2020 in the light of the rapid increase in the number of COVID19 cases.
The recent lockdown extension (with some relaxations) took place from 18th May 2020 to 31st
May 2020. Moreover, while extending the lockdown government divided the administrative
units into the red zone, orange zone and green zone. These zones reduced the panic among
the people and also made administrative machinery focus in a much more efficient andeffective manner on most affected areas on a priority basis.

47 The ‘complete lockdown’ served the purpose and helped in braking the infection chain.
Following India, several countries of the world declared complete lockdown. These countries
include Russia, Italy, USA etc.
Socio-economic Impact
The ‘complete lockdown’ on the one hand served the purpose by breaking the ‘infection chain’ ofCoronavirus but on the other hand, resulted in socio-economic impacts (both positive andnegative) on the life of people living throughout the length and breadth of the country. The
unorganized sector, depleting buffer stocks (agricultural production) and overburdened Police staff
and the medical staff. Apart from this, the ‘complete lockdown’ resulted in some positive outcomes
like improved air quality, optimum resource utilization within the family, a realization of humaninterference level in disturbing the ecological balance.
The Unorganized Sector
The ‘complete lockdown’ shattered the unorganized sector in the worst possible way and people
working as a tea seller, vegetable seller, cobbler, a rickshaw puller, fruit seller and many others losttheir daily source of income. Though the government of India (GOI) made arrangements of breadbutter for the survival of people working in the unorganized sector but COVID19 pandemic with ‘noend’ made poor people to think about their revival in the future.
The unorganized sector faced two major problems:
 Reverse migration.  Disguised unemployment.
As soon as, the government of India declared the complete lockdown, migrant workers andlaborers started migrating from ‘place of destination’ to ‘place of origin’ and thus, gave rise to‘reverse migration’. This reverse migration resulted ‘add on’ burden on the economy of ‘place oforigin’. The administrative machinery at the ‘place of origin’ becomes responsible for thedistribution of survival amenities to the returned migrants from different States. These returned
migrants started working as laborers in agricultural fields with or without wages. Consequently,
the number of laborers working on a single piece of land increased and resulted in ‘disguised
unemployment’. The government of India, during the declaration of lockdown extension from 17th
May 2020 to 31st May 2020, announced the package of 20 lakh crore rupees for the unorganizedsector in order to make them ‘Atma Nirbhar’ (self-dependent).
Impact on Tourism Industry
Indian tourism industry suffered from setback due to the spread of Coronavirus and implementationof complete lockdown. The hotel industry, tour and travels and people employed in hospitality
sector suffered to a great extent and there seem no recent hopes of a revival of the tourism
industry in India. The possible reasons for this are - firstly, fear psychosis among people regarding
the infection of Coronavirus discourages them from traveling, secondly, deteriorated economic
conditions of people due to lockdown doesn’t allow them to go out of budget and thirdly, official
workload due to pending work not going to leave them free for longer period of time.
Depleting ‘Buffer Stocks’
Though Indian and its States have enough stocks of food grains to meet out any emergency
situations like ‘complete lockdown’, which is prevailing in India currently as a measure to break theinfection chain of Coronavirus. Now, the rate of replenishment of buffer stocks is slow as comparedto the rate of consumption. Moreover, decreased agricultural production due to uncertain orextreme weather activities have worsened the situation. The proportion of population, consumption
and replenishment does not seem in synchronization. Moreover, in the light of lockdown, farmers
are also maintaining stocks for their families and showing less interest in dumping their products inthe market.
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Overburdened Police Personnel and Medical Staff
The government of India declared the strict implementation of ‘complete lockdown’ and the sole
responsibility was given to police personnel to maintain law and order and ensure ‘zero mobility’during this period of lockdown. Though, India became a role model for the entire world and wasappreciated for its ‘complete lockdown’. But police personnel were overburdened with day time
duty and night time duty and that too without any protective uniforms in order to avoid themselvesfrom infection. Moreover, they worked in hot and harsh weather conditions throughout the year.
The other aspect which came into light in the shortage of police personnel and this shortage needs
to be fulfilled by the recruitment authorities as soon as possible. The second and most important‘front line fighters’ are doctors and nurses which together constitute medical staff. In this case,also, a shortage of doctors and nurses was observed and due to which junior and under-training
doctors and nurses were forced to perform the respective duties. Therefore, the government ofIndia needs to recruit doctors and nurses in a much larger number in the near future.
Improved Air Quality
The ‘zero mobility’ of vehicles resulted in zero vehicular exhaust; zero SPM and RSPM andconsequently, air became clearer than ever before. The environmental visibility increased and theclear blue sky became a regular scene. The metropolitan cities like Delhi and Mumbai got
rejuvenated in terms of air quality and environment.
Optimum Resource Utilization within the Family
The lockdown resulted in a limited supply of resources which made people utilize the available
resources in an optimum manner. Thus, people learned to give up their high consumption patterns
and acquired low consumption patterns. Consequently, distribution of resources became fairer andfairer and maximum a number of people got benefited.
Level of Human Interference in Disturbing the Ecological Balance
During the period of lockdown, we came across several news like peacocks roaming on the streetsof Madrid, Spain; elephants on the streets of Rishikesh, Uttarakhand; Dolphins in waters of themarine drive of Mumbai, Maharashtra; wild animals on the streets of Chandigarh, Punjab; andmany more incidences of visibility of wild animals was reported across the world. This increased
visibility of wild animals on the streets of cities shows that noisy-voices life of human beings forced
peace-loving wild animals to go and hide in the core of forests. Moreover, improved air quality,
environmental visibility shows that anthropogenic activities responsible for the deterioration ofenvironmental conditions and ecological balance.
Conclusion
Though, we suffered losses at the economic front but imagine the scenario of Italy in the context ofIndia. Italy with the best medical infrastructure in the world failed to cope up with the rapidly
spreading Coronavirus. Now, if we talk about India then we are far behind in terms of medical
infrastructure and the complete lockdown was the only measure to protect people from getting
infected by the Coronavirus. The fight against COVID19 is still going on and citizens along with
non-governmental organizations (NGOs), community-based organizations (CBOs) came together
to provide all possible help to the needy people.
References
1. World Health Organization (2020). Coronavirus situation report-22 released on 11 Feb. 2020
2. World Health Organization (2020). COVID19 situation report-72 released on 1 April 2020
3. World Health Organization (2020). COVID19 situation report-101 released on 30 April 2020
4. www.covid19india.org
5. http://covidvisualizer.com
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