Contextualizing the COVID Pandemic in India: A Development Perspective (India Studies in Business and Economics)

This book brings together contributions that explore various dimensions of the pandemic from a long-term development perspective. It also analyzes the existing policy responses and the gaps therein, to enable a greater understanding of how public policy – during a pandemic like COVID-19 – can be better aligned with the developmental challenges faced by individuals and households in India. Through its thirteen contributions, the book highlights the connection between the pandemic and development as deep and multilayered, and not unidirectional. It highlights how the existing inequalities and inequities in the system determined who gets impacted and to what extent, and how soon they can recover, if at all. It analyzes policies and programmes that have been implemented based mostly on the immediate pandemic crisis, and responded less to the pre-existing conditions that have shaped socio-economic outcomes. The book would be a great resource to study possible future responses to similar health disasters in a multi-cultural, multi-religion, multi-caste and multi-class melting pot like India. Foreword Contents About the Editors 1 Impact of Covid-19 on Macroeconomic Developments: Recession, Recovery and Assessment 1.1 Introduction 1.1.1 Global Environment 1.2 The Spread of COVID-19 in India 1.3 Macroeconomic Impact 1.3.1 Recession 1.3.2 Policy Measures 1.3.3 Sectoral Growth 1.3.4 State-Wise Variations 1.3.5 Unemployment 1.3.6 Consumption and Investment 1.3.7 Foreign Trade 1.3.8 Fiscal Parameters 1.3.9 Inflation 1.3.10 Recovery in 2021–22 1.3.11 Global Conflict 2022–23 1.4 Assessment and Challenges 1.4.1 Distribution 1.4.2 Poverty 1.4.3 Dealing with Another Pandemic like Situation 1.5 Conclusions References 2 Primary Health Care and Resilience of Health Systems 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Excess Mortality Due to COVID-19 in India: Evidence and Debate 2.3 Primary Health Care in India 2.3.1 Financing of Primary Care 2.3.2 Capacity of Primary Health Care: Infrastructure, Personnel and Drugs 2.3.3 Performance: Primary Care Indicators 2.3.4 Equity in Outcome, Access, Affordability and Availability of Primary Care 2.4 Health Priorities During COVID-19 2.5 Conclusion and Looking Ahead References 3 Lives, Livelihoods and Government Support in the Wake of the Covid-19 Pandemic in Rural Bihar 3.1 The Covid-19 Context in India and This Study 3.2 The Scope of Data Collection in Rural Bihar 3.3 Profile of Study Households and Livelihoods Prior to the Pandemic 3.4 Impacts on Different Sources of Livelihood 3.4.1 Summary of Overall Impact on Livelihoods 3.4.2 Impact by Social Group 3.4.3 Impact by Income Class 3.5 Select Impacts on Health, Nutrition and Education 3.5.1 Health 3.5.2 Nutrition and Education 3.6 Access to Government Assistance 3.6.1 Free Additional Food Ration 3.6.2 Free Cooking Gas Cylinders 3.6.3 Cash Transfer into women’s Jan Dhan Accounts 3.6.4 Pension Receipts 3.7 In Closing References 4 The Impact of the Pandemic on Social Vulnerabilities in India 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Data 4.3 A Comparison of Economic Indicators in COVID Year with Pre-COVID Years 4.4 Understanding Heterogeneity of Economic Indicators by Social Categories 4.4.1 Per Capita Expenditure by Caste and Religion 4.4.2 Poverty Rates by Caste and Religion 4.5 Conclusion References 5 COVID-19 and Education in India: A New Education Crisis in the Making 5.1 The Global Pandemic and the Emergency Response 5.2 Indian Experience 5.3 Emergency Response: Online Learning 5.4 Is Online Learning a Reliable Alternative? 5.5 Strategies for Uncertain Future References 6 The Penalty of Being Young: India’s Workers During the Pandemic 6.1 Introduction 6.2 The Costs of Being a Young Worker 6.2.1 Employment Costs 6.2.2 Earnings Costs 6.3 The Costs of Being a Young Entrant 6.3.1 Employment Outcomes of the Pandemic Cohort 6.3.2 Earnings of the Pandemic Cohort 6.4 Conclusion References 7 Social Protection Policies and Women’s Employment During COVID-19 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Fall Back Options in Rural India During Pandemic 7.2.1 Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and Women 7.3 Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan (GKRA) 7.3.1 Rural Women Labor Force Participation 7.4 Role of Special Provisions for Women 7.5 Discussion 7.6 Concluding Remarks: Policy Lessons Appendix References 8 The Covid-19 Pandemic and Gendered Division of Paid Work, Domestic Chores and Leisure: Evidence from India’s First Wave 8.1 Motivation 8.1.1 Global Evidence and Related Literature 8.1.2 Main Results 8.2 Paid Work: Employment 8.2.1 Data and Summary Statistics 8.2.2 Pre and Post-pandemic Panel 8.2.3 The Lockdown Panel 8.2.4 Event Study Estimates: The Lockdown Panel 8.3 Unpaid Domestic Work and Leisure 8.3.1 Time Spent with Friends 8.4 Discussion and Concluding Comments 8.4.1 Time Use 8.4.2 What Does History Tell Us? References 9 Chronicling the Observed Gendered Effects in India’s Labor Markets During COVID-19 9.1 Introduction 9.2 Methodology 9.3 Gendered Divisions in the Labor Market in the Pre-COVID Era 9.3.1 Occupational Segregation 9.3.2 Increased mechanization and Automation 9.3.3 Income Effect 9.3.4 Social Norms 9.3.5 Education and Training 9.4 Disproportionate Gendered Impact on Labor Force Participation During COVID-19 9.4.1 Massive Job Losses Among Women Workers 9.5 Unpacking the Trends and Understanding the Lived Experience of Women Through the Pandemic 9.5.1 The Gendered Digital Divide 9.5.2 Unpaid Work 9.5.3 Mobility Restrictions 9.5.4 The Reverse Income Effect and Need for Gender-Responsive Skill Training 9.5.5 Hybrid Work and Lack of Institutional Support 9.6 Conclusion Appendix A: List of Definitions and Abbreviations A.1 Definitions A.2 Abbreviations Appendix B: List of Stakeholder Consultations References 10 India’s COVID-19 Vaccination Drive: Its Relevance in Managing the Pandemic 10.1 Introduction 10.2 Effectiveness of COVID-19 Vaccines 10.2.1 Evidences from Outside India 10.2.2 Evidences from India 10.2.3 Duration of Protection 10.3 Planning and Implementation of the Vaccination Drive in India 10.3.1 Use of Digital Technology 10.3.2 Vaccine Procurement and Distribution Within India 10.3.3 Revision in Vaccination Dose Schedule 10.3.4 Special Campaigns to Improve Compliance 10.3.5 Export of Vaccines to Other Countries 10.4 How Did We Fare in 2021 When COVID-19 Was More Threatening? 10.4.1 How Far Were We from the Target? 10.4.2 Vaccination Coverage by Gender Across States 10.4.3 Compliance in Receiving Two Doses of Vaccine 10.5 Potential Bottlenecks 10.5.1 Vaccine Hesitancy 10.5.2 Supply Shortage and State Allocation 10.5.3 Do Household Heads Influence the Vaccination Choice of Household Members? 10.6 Conclusion References 11 COVID-19 Vaccination Status and Hesitancy: Survey Evidence from Rural India 11.1 Introduction 11.1.1 What is Vaccine Hesitancy 11.1.2 Determinants of Vaccine Hesitancy and Vaccine Uptake Intention 11.2 Methods 11.2.1 Survey Instrument Design 11.2.2 Sampling and Data Collection 11.3 Sample Demographics 11.4 Results 11.4.1 Associations Between Demographics and Vaccination Status 11.4.2 Demand-Side Barriers to Vaccination Among the Unvaccinated 11.4.3 Supply-Side Barriers to Vaccination Among the Unvaccinated 11.4.4 Barriers Among the Partially and Fully Vaccinated 11.4.5 Drivers for Vaccination 11.4.6 Knowledge and Attitudes Towards the COVID-19 Vaccine 11.5 Discussion Appendix References 12 Impact of COVID-19 on Agricultural Markets: Assessing the Roles of Commodity Characteristics, Disease Caseload, and Market Reforms 12.1 Introduction 12.2 Data 12.2.1 Wholesale Markets (Mandis) Covered 12.2.2 COVID-19 Incidence 12.2.3 Market Reforms 12.3 Trends in Market Arrivals and Prices 12.4 Identification Strategy 12.4.1 Impact of COVID-19 Incidence 12.4.2 Differential Impact of Market Reforms 12.5 Results 12.5.1 Impact of COVID-19 Incidence 12.5.2 Differential Impact of Market Reforms 12.6 Discussion and Conclusions References 13 India’s Credit Landscape in a Post-pandemic World 13.1 Introduction 13.2 Pre-pandemic Period 13.2.1 Growth and Composition of Total Credit 13.2.2 Analysing the Pre-pandemic Trends 13.3 Outbreak of Covid-19 13.3.1 Credit Landscape During Pandemic 13.3.2 Policy Actions During Pandemic 13.3.3 Epilogue: Credit in the First Half of FY2023 13.4 The Road Ahead: Opportunities and Challenges 13.5 Conclusion References 14 Trust and Public Policy: Lessons from the Pandemic 14.1 Introduction 14.2 Motivating Evidence 14.3 The Model 14.3.1 Pandemic, Uncertainty and Trust 14.4 Conclusion References