COVID-19 has shaken the world, affecting millions of lives around the globe. It has paralysed the global economies and its impact on India is no different from other countries. With more than 40 days of lockdown announced in India, the country has already started feeling the financial crisis’ brunt.
However, many economists and policy analysts have started working on a blueprint to revive the Indian economy. The following two aspects, in my opinion, need to be addressed to mitigate the extreme crisis post-COVID-19:
- There is a need for detailed COVID-19 guidelines and certification for India’s businesses to avoid the second wave of the outbreak. These guidelines need to be applicable to both organised and unorganised sectors so that companies put an extra effort towards it. This will build confidence among the employees towards the company and ensure better production.
- As it is seen that many migrant labourers and contractual employees are migrating back to their native places in the wake of the pandemic, there will be a definite dearth of employees in the future. Also, most of these labourers belong to the unorganised sector, which is the backbone for the economies functioning in urban areas. The major reasons for such huge reverse migration despite lockdown are given below:
- The lack of transparency and coordination among the state governments in ensuring these laborers that their families back home are safe and healthy.
- The employers or contractors in the unorganised sector have ignored their existence leading these labourers to lose confidence, which is further aggravated by the district administration not taking sufficient care of their needs and issues. This has made the labourers realise the ignorance and decided not to go back to work in cities.
The aforementioned arguments will hurt urban economies and increase the burden on rural areas with minimal employment opportunities. Thus, the only alternative that can bring migrant labourers back to work is organising the unorganised sector. There is a need to design more stringent labour laws and rights with due recognition of these labourers and implement preventive measures in a crisis for those working in the unorganised sector (which will be no more called unorganised).
Having an independent institution for its effective dissemination, implementation and monitoring will further ensure bringing stability in the economy and this time, it will be much stronger and better.