Pandemic of poverty: India's financial crisis worsens

Mafazah Sharafuddin
May 31, 2021

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As the country suffers the threat of death and disease, financial struggle looms over it. There has been a huge loss for several of the economy. The government has issued aid, however, it is insufficient and neglects the unorganized sector entirely. 

The estimation of the government, standing at Rs 1,250 crore, and is not close to what is needed by the people. Additionally, it does not aid those who don’t come under government schemes, meaning a huge chunk of the unorganized and industrial sector. 

The financial crisis in India due to COVID is a many headed demon. So many different issues have arisen since the start of the pandemic, and the people of India are suffering under the financial burden. 

Sudden shifts

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the word ‘unprecedented’ has been used innumerable times. Problems arrive suddenly, with no warning. People are losing their jobs all at once after years of working in the same place. 

With the magnitude of the death toll, many a times the sole breadwinner of the house passes away. This leaves the family floundering, looking for jobs and trying to keep mouths fed.

People who are newly unemployed and unable to find jobs in the same industry are left confused. They have a skillset that employers are not looking for and eventually, they have to resort to unskilled labor which gives them lower wages. 

Warning signs 

The fact is that the people are suffering. The numbers back it up. There has been a 15 to 20% increase in poverty since the pandemic began. This means more than 23 crore people have slipped below the poverty line. 

Unemployment has increased, too. 1.5 people have been lost their jobs, and those who continue to be employed face lowered salaries. The per capita income of the country has lowered by 16.8% to what it was in January of 2020. 

Within 2020, there was an increase in people partially withdrawing funds from their Employee Provident Fund accounts. While it was 54 lakh people in 2019, 2020 saw 1.27 crore people doing the same. 

According to RBI, there had been an 81.5% increase in that loans against gold jewelry by Scheduled Commercial Banks in March in comparison with the same last year. 

MFIs, MSMEs suffer losses

MFIs (Micro finance Institutions) cater to the poorer sections of Indian society. The lockdowns have has adverse effects on the functioning of NBFCs and MFIs. With the poor already suffering through unemployment and steep hospital bills, this too has caused a bad hit.

Some sectors are faring worse than others. These industries thrive on travel, face to face interactions and consumerism. Retail, MSME, and hospitality are some of them.

The pandemic has resulted in the closure of 15-20% of the MSMEs in India. Large scale supply chains are taking away their customers as they are not able to operate as usual during the pandemic. If the situation continues, there could be a much larger percentage of MSMEs closed during the pandemic. 

Small businesses run into trouble

Small businesses like family run stores are facing trouble getting customers and keeping their shops open. The lockdown hours put a huge dent in the time they can sell to people. Shops that don’t count as ‘essentials’ often cannot open at all. 

Chain supermarkets and other shops are seeing more traffic as these small businesses get neglected. Without their livelihood, the threat of COVID increases as they would not be able to afford the hospital bills and medication.

Sellers over the internet find it difficult to post packages as delivery services do not function everywhere due to COVID. Small businesses are losing customers at a large scale. 

Social workers rise to the occasion

While the situation is dire, social worker and organizations have taken the initiative to help people. All over India, social workers and volunteers are assisting on everything from grocery packages to cremations. 

The workers help with transportation, reservation of beds, intricacies of the Ayushman card, ensuring the patients and the family members staying with them are fed, etc. With the ongoing crisis with the bodies piling up with no one to deal with them, social workers are also burying and cremating bodies. 

Not just this, but they are also helping people who are not infected, but have been affected by the pandemic. Distributing food, rations etc. to those in need is another task they perform. 

However, without proper government aid to the poorer sections of society, there is no saying how bad the situation could get.

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News Network
March 18,2024

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New Delhi, Mar 18: The Election Commission on Monday afternoon issued orders for the removal of six Home Secretaries - including the top bureaucrats from Gujarat, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh.

The poll panel also directed the transfer of West Bengal's Director-General of Police, the top cop of a state that has seen several instances of poll-related violence in recent years. The poll panel further said a shortlist of three potential replacements had to be prepared and submitted by 5 pm.

The re-shuffle, not an uncommon move by the Election Commission before major polls, also includes the transfer of the Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand Home Secretaries, as well as senior officials attached to the offices of the Mizoram and Himachal Pradesh Chief Ministers.

In addition, Iqbal Singh Chahal, who is Commissioner of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, and other officials in municipalities across Maharashtra, have been removed too.

All of this comes less than a month before the 2024 Lok Sabha poll; the ECI on Saturday said voting will begin on April 19 and run over seven phases till June 1.

This is, in fact, the first bureaucratic re-jig by the ECI since it announced polling dates.

The ECI's move comes after a meeting of Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar and his two associates, the newly-appointed Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu. This step comes as part of the poll panel's commitment to ensure a level playing field for all political parties in the forthcoming Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, as well as by-polls for 26 seats in 13 states.

Sources said the personnel removed were found to be holding dual charge in the offices of the respective chief ministers of each state, and this could compromise, or be seen to be compromising, required neutrality, particularly in relation to law-and-order before, during and after polling.

Bengal's ruling Trinamool has not yet reacted to the removal of DGP Rajiv Malik, who is seen by some to be close to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's party. In the past, the state government has questioned the last-minute re-shuffle of senior civil service and police officials so close to an election, arguing it actually hampers prep work since the new faces need time to adjust to the post.

Bengal has frequently witnessed violence during polling season; in June last year over a dozen people were killed across the state as voting for a panchayat election was underway.

The Trinamool accused the opposition of instigating violence and criticised central forces for their failure to protect voters, while the Congress claimed the state had let thugs loose on the people.

While announcing the dates on Saturday, the Chief Election Commissioner said the poll panel would take a very dim view of any violence during the election. Mr Kumar said the ECI is prepared to come down hard on any such incident. "We're putting political parties on notice," he declared.

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News Network
March 17,2024

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Beltangady, Mar 17: A three-year-old boy was crushed to death under the wheels of an auto-rickshaw in front of his house at Panakaje Mundadi in Belthangady taluk of Dakshina Kannada. 

The gut-wrenching tragedy took place on Saturday, March 16 morning when the boy ran out of home to the road. 

The victim has been identified as Kaushik, the son of Chandrashekhar and Usha couple. Their home is situated adjacent to the main road at Panakaje.

It is learnt that the auto-rickshaw failed to notice the boy who suddenly darted towards the road and hit him. 

Even though the injured boy was rushed to a private hospital in Ujire and later to Mangaluru, he breathed his last. 

The Beltangady traffic police have registered a case in connection with the incident.

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News Network
March 27,2024

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Bengaluru: Darshan Babu is an engineer who is fond of betting on cricket matches and has been placing major bets on Indian Premier League (IPL) games since 2021. He often borrows money after losing a bet, or to place one when he is short on funds. His 23-year-old wife, tired of the constant harassment by creditors, died by suicide.

Ranjitha was found hanging at her home in Karnataka's Chitradurga on March 18. According to the family, Darshan had racked up a debt of over Rs 1 crore.

He worked as an assistant engineer in the Minor Irrigation Department at Hosadurga and had been ensnared in the realm of IPL betting from 2021 to 2023. This took a major toll on the couple's finances. Allegedly, he had borrowed over Rs 1.5 crore to place bets after his luck ran out and he lost all his money. While he managed to return Rs 1 crore, cops say that he still has a pending loan of ₹ 84 lakh.

Ranjitha married Darshan in 2020. She realised the truth about Darshan's involvement in betting in 2021, claims her father Venkatesh.

In his complaint, Venkatesh said that his daughter was extremely distressed due to the constant harassment by moneylenders and this led to her suicide. He has also named 13 men who had allegedly lent the money.

He said that his son-in-law was lured into betting with a promise of quick money.

"He (Darshan) was not willing to get into betting, but the suspects forced him saying it was an easy way to get rich. They promised to finance his betting activities against some blank cheques as security," he said.

Cops during their investigation found a suicide note, where she detailed the harassment they faced. Darshan and Ranjitha have a two-year-old son.

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