Professor Amartya Sen argued it wasn’t food shortages that caused famines but the inability of the poor to purchase food. The implication i...
Professor Amartya Sen argued it wasn’t food shortages that caused famines but the inability of the poor to purchase food. The implication is that famines are tragedies that can be prevented – by effective public action to recreate the lost incomes of potential victims.
The lockdown in India that began on March 25 to contain the coronavirus pandemic has ravaged the country’s economy and rendered millions of its workers without any source of income. Our analysis shows that the incomes lost by vulnerable sections of India’s workforce during the two months of the lockdown would amount to as much as Rs 4 lakh crores, or nearly 2% of the country’s annual gross domestic product. A key priority for any government programme to revive the economy should be the restoration of at least a part of these lost incomes.
What is India’s workforce composition?
Estimates based on data from the Periodic Labour Force Survey show that India’s workforce numbered 471.5 million of an estimated total population of 1358 million in 2018. As the chart below shows, the workforce comprised 114.2 million who received wages or salaries on a regular basis, 115.0 million casual workers, and the remaining 242.3 million who were self-employed.
Of the self-employed, 144.1 million were...
