P Eyam Konyak
Immanuel College, Dimapur
The economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in India has been largely disruptive. India is fighting two wars in a way one is against the pandemic and the other is the economic crisis. India’s growth in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year 2020 went down to 3.1% according to the Ministry of Statistics.
Notably India had also been witnessing pre-pandemic slowdown and according to the World Bank, the current pandemic has “magnified pre-existing risks to India’s economic outlook”.
The World Bank and rating agencies had initially revised India’s growth for fiscal year 2021 with the lowest figures India has seen in three decades since India’s economic Liberalization in the 1990s. However after the announcement of the economic package in mid-May, India’s GDP estimates were downgraded to even more to negative figures, signaling a deep recession.
During the nation’s Lockdown, an estimated 14 crore people lost employment while Salaries were cut for many others leading to arise of employment rates within a month. Under a complete lockdown, less than a quarter of India’s $2.8 trillion economic movement was functional. Supply Chains have been put under stress with the lockdown restrictions in place. Those in the informal sectors and daily wage groups have been at most risk. A large no. of farmers around the country who grow perishables also faced uncertainty. The slowdown in Demand, closure of production activities, fall in global price of crude oil, ban on foreign trade, price decrease in commodities like energy, metals and fertilizers, restrictions on the aviation industry as also on tourism amongst others are bound to exert downward pressure on the inflation, thus adversely affecting the economy chart. To minimize the effect in the economy caused by the Pandemic
Outbreak, the central government thus announced much-needed relief measures in areas of Income Tax, Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code, Fisheries, Banking Sector& Commerce etc. Therefore, we must create an environment for investment and growth sectors that distress today, such as Agriculture, construction and power which can become engines of growth. Agriculture reforms should ensure easier access to input like seeds technology, power, finance & Insurance intended to boost the Economy.
