COVID-19 Lockdown: Impact on Agriculture and Rural Economy

Lack of planning and preparation by the central government for tackling the COVID-19 pandemic has dealt a massive blow to India’s economy and has caused enormous hardships to working people of the country. The informal rural economy has been hit the hardest by this. Refusal to acknowledge the crisis and its mismanagement has aggravated the suffering of people and has deepened the crisis further.

Instead of providing relief to farmers and rural workers, the government is using this crisis as an opportunity to further dispossess the working people of their rights and resources. Not only has the central government done very little to alleviate the distress of farmers, but it has also introduced a slew of ordinances that are likely to advance corporate penetration in agriculture.