Perils of lockdown and informal sector workers: Reflections in the time of Covid-19 -Amrita Ghatak & Kingshuk Sarkar

-Vikalp.ind.in

The unprecedented fear of Covid-19 leading to ‘social distancing’ through lockdown in the entire India has yet again unfolded the plight of informal sector workers even in the midst of a universal public health crisis worldwide. The lockdown, for a huge number of informal sector workers is associated with the loss of livelihood; but for others engaged in low-valued essential works such as home delivery, scavenging and cleaning the society, selling vegetables, groceries and milk, it is associated with exposure to Covid-19 risks. For this large section of informal sector workers the lockdown essentially means a trade-off between starvation and exposure to the pandemic risks or overwhelming fear of Covid-19. Paradoxically, the frequent events of deaths due to TB and diarrhoea have neither attracted the ‘emergency’ status in the realm of public policy nor generated fear among people in India. These scenarios make one reflect, why are there such divergent practices even at policy level? Do public health issues have visible class bias? Are middle class insecurities in dealing with random Covid-19 threat pushing the boundaries of precarious employment opportunities in the informal sector further?

As India is witnessing almost complete shutdown because of probable unprecedented spread of Covid-19 virus the intensity and magnitude of health – economy relationship is unfolded explicitly. We have never seen such a universal public health crisis with devastating impacts on economic activities. Although implications of illness on expenditure and loss of income are well-discussed in the contexts of both developed and developing countries, the enormity of the impacts of a contagious disease like Covid-19 on the livelihood of people, particularly those in the informal sector forming around 93 percent of India’s work-force, has never been experienced before.

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