India's Lockdown

CAGE Briefing Paper by Debraj Ray, New York University and CAGE, S. Subramanian, Independent Researcher and Lore VandeWalle, Graduate Institute, Geneva.

On March 24, 2020, the Government of India ordered a nationwide lockdown for 21 days as a preventive measure against the spread of the coronavirus. The lockdown – in full force as we write – restricts 1.3 billion people from leaving their homes. Transport services are suspended, educational institutions are closed, and factories are shut down. This is in line with the measures imposed in most European countries and in the United States, but the sheer scale of the measure – as in the case of most policies in India – is intimidating. Add to this the grim truth of Indian occupational structure and poverty, and you would likely predict what we now see: unending streams of migrants trying to find their way home, the fear of loss of all income, deep privations, and even (in the space of days) hunger, starvation and death.

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Video Vox with Debraj Ray and Lore VandeWalle