Implications of Covid-19 for Labour and Employment in India
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Implications of Covid‑19 for Labour and Employment in India Dagmar Walter1
© Indian Society of Labour Economics 2020
Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed the world into an unprecedented crisis and uncertainty, calling to expedite the implementation of the Centenary Declaration. It called upon constituents to pursue ‘with unrelenting vigour its [ILO] constitutional mandate for social justice by further developing its human centred approach to the future of work’. It called for putting workers’ rights and the needs, aspirations and rights of all people at the heart of economic, social and environmental policies. The international community and ILO’s constituents have engaged in a collective endeavour to tackle the devastating human impact of the pandemic, but more is needed. Keywords COVID-19 · Coronavirus · Future of work · Employment in India · Impact of COVID-19 · Labour policy · ILO in India · ILO’s Policy Framework · Occupational Safety and Health · Social dialogue · Employment · Income generation · Labour demand A year ago, in June 2019, the International Labour Organization (ILO) adopted the Centenary Declaration for the Future of Work with support from its 187 member States. The declaration called upon constituents to pursue ‘with unrelenting vigour its [ILO] constitutional mandate for social justice by further developing its human centred approach to the future of work’. It called for putting workers’ rights and the needs, aspirations and rights of all people at the heart of economic, social and environmental policies. One year on, the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed the world into an unprecedented crisis and uncertainty, calling to expedite the implementation of the Centenary Declaration. The international community and ILO’s constituents have engaged For special issue of The Indian Journal of Labour Economics. * Dagmar Walter [email protected] 1
ILO Decent Work Team for South Asia and Country Office for India, New Delhi, India
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in a collective endeavour to tackle the devastating human impact of the pandemic, but more is needed.
1 The Reeling Impact The ILO was quick to recognize that the COVID-19 pandemic is not just a health crisis, but equally an economic and labour market crisis. The lockdown measures adopted in most countries to prevent the spread of the pandemic restricted economic activities. Evidently, developing countries have faced disruptions in trade and supply chains, triggering negative growth. As early as on 18 March 2020, ILO’s first monitor on COVID-19 had estimated a rise in unemployment and underemployment between 5.3 million (‘low’ scenario) and 24.7 million (‘high’ scenario) from a base level of 188 million in 2019.1 Soon, the figures have proved as highly underestimated. ILO 5th Monitor on COVID-19 impact released on 30 June 2020 suggests that the labour market recovery during the second half of 2020 will be uncertain and incomplete. The working-hour losses could range between 140 million full-time jobs and
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