BackDelhi Decoded: Impact of covid-19 on social sector
The lockdown led to high rates of unemployment as businesses shut down and suffered due to lack of economic activities and consumer demand. It also led to reverse migration from cities to rural centres
PremiumNEW DELHI: The stringent lockdown imposed in March, and lasting for over two months, hit lives and livelihoods across the country. As a result, a greater number of people are expected to slip below the poverty line in India, according to various estimates. Experts believe that it is crucial to focus on the most vulnerable sections of the society which would require changes in development policies of the Centre, civil society, and corporates.
Deloitte India in a report--Social response to Covid-19--lays down a roadmap to recovery in the post covid-19 world. The report looks at what sectors need to respond to the crisis and recover from it. In this podcast, Viral Thakker, partner at Deloitte India, said the report highlights short, medium and long term plans of what corporate, government and civil society can do to implement programmes that can benefit the social sector.
The lockdown led to high rates of unemployment as businesses shut down and suffered due to lack of economic activities and consumer demand. It also led to reverse migration from cities to rural centres. The report suggests that to thrive, rural economy has to be put at the forefront along with adequate skill development for vulnerable sections.
“We thought we will look at areas which have been most impacted by covid-19. We looked at six basic areas – livelihood, rural development, skill development, education, health and WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene). Basically to look at what has been the impact in this area, the challenges that have been further exasperated in the context of covid-19 and how can companies play a greater role in minimizing the role of covid-19," he said.
India is currently in the fifth phase of unlock.
The pandemic has also put additional burden on the health sector in the country. The report points out that there needs to be an increase in the investment made in this sector along with technology based initiatives to expand the reach.
Delhi Decoded is a weekly podcast. You can listen to all the episodes here.
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