The second wave of epidemic made people miserable

For more than a year now, the people of India have been living under the shadow of restrictions imposed by the rulers.  More than 90 per cent of India’s workers work in the informal, informal sector where there is no permanent employment and no legal protection.  This class has been hit the hardest by the Karona restrictions.  Last year’s abrupt shutdown forced millions of workers to take to the streets.  This year, though not at that level, millions of workers have been forced to migrate due to lack of employment, unnecessary, unscientific fears of the spread of the disease.  Hundreds of workers were killed on their way to their home provinces last year.  In the last one year or so, thousands of victims of poverty, unemployment and starvation have committed suicide.
 The second hardest hit by the Corona bans are the semi-laborers and the lower middle class, who make a living from peddlers, rickshaw pullers and small businesses.  The devastation of their work has pushed them to the brink of starvation and is still pushing them.
Where 85 per cent of the country’s population suffers from poverty, unemployment and hunger due to Karona restrictions.
While 85 per cent of the country’s population is destitute due to Karona restrictions, the country’s top capitalists have become and continue to become rich.
As of April 8, 2021, the number of billionaires in the country at the time of the Corona ban had risen to 140 from 102 in 2020.  That means 38 new billionaires have joined the club of the country’s billionaires (the richest).  India ranks third in the world in the number of billionaires.  The total wealth of these billionaires has reached Rs 43 lakh 56 thousand 760 crore (43,56,760) as against Rs 22 lakh 88 thousand, 030 crore (22,88,030) in 2020.
On the one hand, while the grip of domestic and foreign capital on the country’s total resources and treasuries has become stronger, the living conditions of the country’s working people have become more conducive.
Instead of making any concrete arrangements to deal with corona, the Indian government opted for lockdowns or partial bans in many places.  Even during the first Corona movement, the oppressive lockdown adversely affected the economic resources of the working people, and people lost their jobs.  After the shutdown, once the pace of work began to pick up, restrictions were imposed in the name of coping with the second wave of corona, once again shutting down the hearths of the working people.
Recently, Mahesh Vyas, Chief Executive Officer, Center for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), shared some facts about the effects of the ban.  According to Berkeley Investment Bank, India is losing Rs 60,000 crore every week in May due to sanctions and the total loss so far has reached Rs 8.5 lakh crore, which is 3.75 per cent of GDP.  Recovery is also to be made from the pockets of the general public).  Unemployment has risen to 14.73 per cent.  Overall, the unemployment rate in urban India has risen to 17 per cent and in rural areas to 14 per cent.  During the lockdown last year, from April to May 2020, the labor participation rate fell and the unemployment rate peaked.  During this time, millions lost their jobs.  From May onwards, in the months of June-July, the situation started to improve a bit and by December, the unemployment situation started to improve significantly.  But since then, since January, things have taken a turn for the worse and the figures are beginning to signal a bad time.  Unemployment rose again, labor participation fell.  This was the time when sanctions were imposed to prevent the second wave of the Corona, and the situation worsened.  In April, the unemployment rate stood at 8 per cent and the labor force at 40 per cent.  But by May, the unemployment rate had risen to 14.7 per cent.
CMIE  In April 2020, 126 million people lost their jobs (compared to the actual figure), of whom 90 million were day laborers, according to the World Bank.  When the first lockdown struck, day laborers lost their jobs.  Although some of the unemployed workers got their jobs back after the lockdown, not all of them and even some of those who did get their jobs got raw jobs instead of permanent ones. The trend of contract recruitment has increased.  Formal recruitment has increased.  There has been a significant increase in the number of unskilled workers due to restrictions.  It threatens workers ‘employment security, reduces savings, forces workers to work for lower wages, and undermines workers’ legal rights, even in the face of job losses.
The agency, which collects data, says there has been a sharp decline in paid jobs due to the Krona ban.  Before Krona, we had about 40.35 crore jobs.  In January 2021 this number was reduced to 400 million and today (May 2021) the number is 39 million and this figure is getting lower day by day.  Those who lost their jobs during the lockdown, but for the most part did not get the same job, were cut in paid jobs, which still seems to be the case.  Earlier, out of the total jobs, 8.5 crore were salaried jobs, which is now only 7.3-7.4 crore.  Due to the lockdown, the share of women in labor has dropped from 9.9% to 6.9%.
There is no doubt that on such occasions the lower, socio-economically disadvantaged groups are always hit the hardest and the lockdown is the hardest hit by the working class, the lower middle class.  Women have also suffered greatly.  According to a survey by the same organization, only 3 per cent of the people have increased their income, 55 per cent have seen a qualitative decline in income over the previous year and 42 per cent have remained the same.  This means that 97 per cent of the population has been pushed into the swamp of poverty more than last year.  According to a March report, 33 million people in India have lost their middle class status and joined the labor force.  According to a report, the middle class population in India with a monthly income of Rs 22,000 to Rs 44,000 has declined from 99 million to 66 million.  Talking about the recovery of this situation, Mr. Vyas said that there are signs of further deterioration of the economy, there is little scope for recovery in the near future.  Therefore, no relief can be expected for the lives of the working people in the future.
Of course, the root cause of this poverty, unemployment is capitalism, but the Krona restrictions have qualitatively increased the suffering of the working population, who are suffering from poverty and unemployment, and have made their living conditions even worse.  If the Corona ban is not lifted soon, the epidemic of poverty and hunger will inevitably knock our rates.