Poverty is the situation of not having sufficient worldly possessions or earnings for a person's daily livelihood. Absolute poverty occurs when a person lacks basic needs, such as food, clothing, and shelter.
The PPPs International Comparison Program followed by United Nations Millennium Development Goals program confirmed that 1.2 billion Indians, approximately equal to 6.7% of India's total population, dwelled below the poverty line in 2018–19."
After just one year, the situation worsens, and the country produces the maximum poor in a year. The pandemic struck India exhibited its lowest economic growth, and the disrupted economy had disproportionately affected the rural areas, resulting from a sharp rise in rural poverty. As unemployment was high, rural people are denied the basics because of food inflation. Many are forced to dig into their small savings to survive. Following World Bank data, Few Research Center has calculated that the number of poor in India increased to 134 million from 60 million in just a year because of pandemic-influenced recession. It indicates that India is back in a problem called by the rest of the world as a "country of mass poverty" due to the unjust and irresponsible government response.
Moreover, The more significant part of the non-agricultural workforce is compelled to break down their savings, and the migrant workers (100- 150 million) suffered the most. Surveys of migrant workers revealed that 96% had not obtained food allowances or cash consolation from the government. Such distress compelled them to travel by foot over long distances to find the survival strategy.
Lock down prevented the production of many goods and services. The deregulation of agricultural markets exposed the farmers to the whims of the corporate world.
The rejection of livelihood to casual workers without compensatory economic protection was clear evidence of the class orientation. Most of the front-line workers belong to the low castes, and they do not have adequate precautions.
Some government policies which are responsible for worsening the situation are:
1. The wrong implementation of containment strategies
2. Poor coordination between the state government and central governments
3. Inadequate investment in the health sector
4. Delayed response
5. Unequal distributions of official packages
6. Inefficient government spending to combat the fall in economic movement
6. Class, caste, and gender preferences in the implementation for worsening