BENGALURU: Job and income losses persisted well past the 2020 lockdown, says a Covid impact survey released by Azim Premji University (APU) on Tuesday. The survey, ‘Covid-19 and Bengaluru’s Urban Poor’, showed as much as 41 per cent of workers had no work, and 40 per cent of households reported eating less than they were before the pandemic, 21 per cent had reduced earnings even in January and February 2021, seven months after the first lockdown was lifted.
The report said that daily wage earners, domestic workers and retail sector employees were the worst affected. The study was done in November 2021, in collaboration with nine Civil Society Organisations (CSO) on 12,841 households, which included 10,267 individuals in 92 low-income settlements across 33 wards of Bengaluru.
Workers across a range of occupations such as drivers (cab, auto and others), daily-wage earners (construction and others), domestic and factory workers (garment and others) were surveyed.
The report also noted the access to government support and even coping mechanisms.
Launching the survey findings, Amit Basole, head of the Centre for Sustainable Employment, Azim Premji University, and lead researcher of the survey team, said, “There is a need for a focused and long-term policy response at the Centre and State level to help households emerge from the crisis.”
Hyma Vadlamani, a core member of the Covid response team, Azim Premji Foundation, said the pandemic has shown how invisible the poor in the cities are, and how weak public systems are in reaching the neediest and most vulnerable. There is an urgent need to use the survey report and revamp governance systems to address inequities more systemically, the researchers said.
“Unemployment was long-term. A significant minority (10 per cent men, 15 per cent women) were out of work even as late as October 2021 (one-and-a-half years into the pandemic). Earning losses were also long-term. Monthly earnings, which were low even before the pandemic (Rs 9,400 per month), fell even lower for many months (Rs 8,450 per month as of January/February 2021),’’ the report said.
Meanwhile, by October 2021, earnings had recovered in nominal terms but adjusted for inflation, and continued to be below pre-Covid levels, which means the households endured almost 19 months of job losses and depressed earnings. While nearly 40 per cent of households reported eating less than they were before the pandemic, households coped by borrowing and selling assets. Many of them had sold or pawned jewellery, while around 12 per cent was unable to borrow, despite pressing needs.
The report, however, stated, “The PDS (ration) was the most important safety net; 55 per cent with BPL cards received more than their regular quantity of grains every month since the second lockdown. Another 32 per cent got additional grains for at least a few months.” However, cash transfers did not reach as many people. Women in nearly 78 per cent of households did not have Jan Dhan accounts. “Of those with accounts, 75 per cent reported receiving some transfer, and 40 per cent reported receiving the full amount of Rs 1,500,” the survey report said.
Going forward, immediate, medium and long-term policy measures are needed to counter these effects and chart the path to inclusive economic recovery. In addition to continued extra PDS rations (recently extended for another six months), more cash transfers, as well as implementation of an urban employment guarantee programme, are urgently needed.
2020 and after
Survey was done in November 2021 with help of Action Aid, Association for Promoting Social Action, Centre for Advocacy and Research, Hasiru Dala, Gubbachi, Reaching Hand, Sangama, Swabhimaan Trust and Thamate