Today, we are debating on Lockdown 5.0. We have been through almost four phases of the lockdown, yet, things are only getting worse. Migrant labourers are still on the roads, the unemployment rate is still increasing, and the number of coronavirus patients is still swelling.
According to a CMIE report, India’s unemployment rate in April this year was about 24.3%, while the unemployment rate stood at 8.8% in March. This shows the mismanagement of the Finance Ministry and the Central government. A sudden increase in the unemployment rate is like a jolt to the country. The rate of unemployment is still growing.
We were on our way to re-establishing the economy after demonetisation, but, in my opinion, the mismanaged lockdown ruined everything. According to another report by the CMIE, the employment rate in the country has increased from an average of 27% through most of April to 29% through most of the May, this indicates that about 20 million people may have been added to the count of those who are employed, but the loss of 122 million jobs in April and May narrowed it down to 102 million unemployed people in May.
The lockdown has not only affected the lives of employed people, but also witnessed a sudden hike in the number of people willing to work but not actively seeking jobs by 77 million, from 12 million in 2019-2020 to 89 million in April 2020. This data indicates that we are heading towards starvation, which is even more dangerous than the coronavirus pandemic.