The Policy Monitor
According to the data of the Centre for Disease Control in the United States, approximately 25 percent deaths in India have constituted the fifty-five and above age group. The worrying factor is that their mortality and morbidity are not dependent solely on the direct effects of the virus, but also on measures like social distancing, travel restrictions, and self-isolation that have a disproportionate effect on healthcare access.
With the eventual closing down of roadside tea stalls, eateries, and restaurants, a share of about 15% of total milk consumption had arrived to a complete halt.
it is very important to understand that the true economic impacts of the lockdown and the pandemic will take time to unfold and reveal itself. But it’s certain that a decline in economic activity will contribute to the after-effects of the pandemic, and directly impact how our economy functions as a whole
An analysis suggests that handing out ₹7000 per month for a period of 3-months combined with 10 KG of free food grains a month for 6-months will come to cost only 3% of our GDP! This would classify as “stimulus” as it revives demand, even though for basic goods and services from those whose propensity to save is minimal. Keynes suggested, during World War II, that the only way to fund the war expenses of the Allied forces was through a “forced transference of purchasing power”.
Reality bites when low government/low-income schools try to keep pace with online education despite inadequate access to the internet, mobile phone, and computers. They are already struggling to survive on basic food and shelter with learning as no longer a priority.
At first sight, the package aims to tackle the issue from the top, giving out money to banks and enterprises but in India’s case, it won’t be enough as unlike any other major economy, we are facing a subsistence crisis in the case of low-skilled labourers.