economic crisis in india essay

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Global financial crisis and its impact on the indian economy.

Girish Rohira

Director, TresVista

Major economies around the world have shown signs of economic slowdown, and in the past, similar market stress and inflation numbers have foreshadowed a global recession. 

It can be intimidating to hear news about weaker growth, increasing prices, and global unrest. While the issue has grown to an exigent state in many of the world’s economies, the situation in India proves to not be as dire. Here are my thoughts on the impact of the impending Global Financial Crisis on India’s economy and why it is well-positioned to take on any consequences.

High Real Growth, Far From Recession

Despite uncertainty in western economies, India is projected to have a real growth rate of 6-6.8% in FY24 as per the Indian Economic Survey 2022-23. While this is on the lower side when compared to FY23 (est. 7%) and FY22 (9.1%), the impact of the 2 shocks (the Russian-Ukraine conflict, and countermeasures to curb inflation) should not be disregarded. Even at 6%, India will be one of the world’s fastest-growing large economies. 

More Dependence on Internal Consumption Rather than Exports India’s foreign exports constitute only a fifth of the country’s total GDP, making the impact of an economic slowdown in western countries not as drastic. India’s economy is further safeguarded due to the diversified nature of its exports, both geographically, and in terms of the products/services it sells, making it less vulnerable to concentrated economic shocks. 

Another driving factor behind India’s growth is the country’s population of 1.4 billion and its demographics. India is home to a relatively young population, with ~26% below 14 years and ~67% between 15-64 years; starkly different from other countries in the developed world. This core strength is the backbone behind the resilience and growth of India’s demand. This ensures that the Indian consumer’s demand for goods and services will remain robust not just for the next decade, but the next few decades.

Resilient Indian Banking System

Learning from the bitter consequences of large non-performing assets and limited capital base in the past has helped Indian banks to currently be better placed to withstand stress. Strict monitoring by the regulators, healthy asset quality, and reasonable capital levels have made Indian banks far more resilient to economic downturns compared to their US counterparts. 

According to the State Bank of India’s economic research report, when compared with other major countries, India has the least foreign claims both as a counterparty and as a guarantor, thus limiting the country’s exposure to global uncertainties.

Favourable Import Positioning The adverse effects of the global slowdown are causing the prices of commodities like crude oil, metal, and edible oil to dip. This is highly beneficial to India’s trade as an importer of these commodities. The reduction in prices has helped counteract the reduction in exports aiding the trade deficit as well.

One particular commodity that India is vulnerable to is the price of oil, as the country imports roughly 80% of its oil. In 2022, India struck a deal with Russia to buy crude oil at a significantly discounted rate amidst the EU and US sanctions, helping India to moderate inflation as compared to the western countries. 

While there will definitely be an impact of the global slowdown on the Indian economy due to current-day integrated economies, it will be far less as compared to western countries. Even with the presence of global headwinds, one can feel better knowing that India is relatively well-positioned to tackle any adverse effects the slowdown may cause.

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How India is dealing with COVID-19 pandemic

Aritra ghosh.

a Environment and Sustainability Institute, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Cornwall, TR10 9FE, UK

Srijita Nundy

b School of Advanced Materials Science and Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, 16419, Republic of Korea

Tapas K. Mallick

India, which has the second-largest population in the world is suffering severely from COVID-19 disease. By May 18th, India investigated ∼1 lakh (0.1million) infected cases from COVID-19, and as of 11th July the cases equalled 8 lakhs. Social distancing and lockdown rules were employed in India, which however had an additional impact on the economy, human living, and environment. Where a negative impact was observed for the economy and human life, the environment got a positive one. How India dealt and can potentially deal with these three factors during and post COVID-19 situation has been discussed here.

Graphical abstract

Graphical abstract showing World-wide distribution of COVID-19 with symptoms and precautions to be taken against coronavirus infection and India.

• • COVID-19 drastically hits the Indian economy.
• • Disease and starvation both concomitantly influenced the death of Indian.
• • Environment is the only sector that got a positive impact from COVID-19.

1. Introduction

Coronaviruses are enveloped RNA viruses, ranging from 60 nm to 140 nm in diameter with a crown-like appearance, found in mammals particularly in humans and birds. Coronaviruses are known to have mutated and recombined behaviour causing respiratory, enteric, hepatic, and neurologic diseases. Coronavirus has a total of seven strains which include HKU1, NL63, 229E and OC43, SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV-19 (COVID-19 being the latest), out of which first four had a mild impact on infested human with mild respiratory disease [ 1 , 2 ], whereas the other three caused a fatal impact on humankind. Previously in 2002–03, more than 8000 people suffered and 774 died due to SARS. In 2012, attributable to MERS-CoV, 2494 persons were infected and over 858 people lost their lives worldwide [ 3 , 4 ] and currently COVID-19 triggered 5,56,335 deaths infecting 216 countries worldwide (as of 11 th July 2020). The genomic sequence of SARS-CoV-2 is different since it was first reported because of their mutation and recombination property.

The first outbreak of COVID-19 occurred in Wuhan, Hubei Province in early Dec 2019 where several patients with viral pneumonia were found to be epidemiologically associated with the Huanan seafood market in Wuhan. This market is famous for sell of wildlife animals and several non-aquatic animals such as birds and rabbits were also on sale before the outbreak. On 30 th January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared an outbreak, a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) and on Feb 2020, WHO officially named this outbreak of the disease associated with the coronavirus as COVID-19 where CO-Corona, VI-Virus D- Disease, and 19–2019 is the year it primarily occurred. Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the root cause behind COVID-19 disease. SARS-CoV-2 has a 79.6% sequence match to SARS-CoV and is 96% identical to a bat-derived Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)-like CoronaVirus [ 5 , 6 ]. Current assessments indicated that COVID-19 has a median incubation period of 3 days (range 0–24 days), with potential asymptomatic transmission [ 7 ].

It took 67 days (∼7th march) to infect 1 lakh people from COVID-19, an additional 12 days (∼19th March) to infiltrate further 1 lakh and with a third invasion taking only 4 days (∼23rd March), indicating SARS-CoV-2 to be a highly transmissive type virus. By 30th March, the number of confirmed cases has shown an exponential spike to 7.25 lakhs across the globe. COVID-19 outbreak is the sixth PHEIC (public health emergency of international concern) following H1N1 (2009), polio (2014), Ebola (2014 in West Africa), Zika (2016), and Ebola (2019 in the Democratic Republic of Congo) [ 3 ]. India which is the second-largest population in the world having a rural-based and growing-urban developing economy is also suffering severely from this COVID-19. India reached its first 1 lakh infection on18 th May 2020, and as of 11th of July crossed 8.5 lakhs.

COVID-19 not only killed people through virus incursion but also due to economic and mental collapse, where developing countries suffered from unemployment and hunger. India enforced 68 days of four-phased-lockdown starting from 24th March ∼31st May to deal with COVID-19. However, in this current scenario of the COVID-19 period, what remains unanswered is whether the virus or the hunger is prepotent in India. Thus, how India is equipped to deal with, coping with the current situation, adverse effects on the economy, human living, and environment along with various approaches undertaken to overcome this pandemic is the topic of discussion in this work.

2. Indian scenario for COVID-19

2.1. how coronavirus spread to and in india.

In the beginning, coronavirus cases in India happened due to the abroad connection rather than transmission within the country. The first three infection cases occurred on 30th January and 3rd February in Kerala as they returned from Wuhan China [ 8 ]. Within a month later on 3rd March, two more cases were reported where one patient had a travel history from Italy while the other in Hyderabad visited Dubai. On the very same day, few other cases were observed in Jaipur [ 9 ]. To control this spread, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) issued travel advisory restrictions which were similar to the previous pandemics such as SARS, Ebola, and bubonic plague, including the imposition of self-quarantine rules for 14 days to all international travellers entering the country. Additionally, travel visas were restricted until 15th April for other countries [ 10 ] and on 16 th March 2020, MoHFW proposed various interventions such as social distancing of ≤ 1 m [ 11 ] to avoid/decrease the rate and extent of disease transmission in a community which eventually leads to decreasing in a spread, morbidity, and mortality due to the disease.

On 22nd March, Prime Minister Narendra Modi encouraged people to follow 14 h of Janata curfew in India [ 12 ]. On 24th March first phase of 21 days lockdown started in India [ 13 ]. Due to this lock down, mobility in grocery and pharmacy, recreation and retail, transit to station visits to parks, and workplaces reduced by 64.2%, −70.51%, −65.6%, −46.17 and −60.03% respectively [ 14 ]. Due to the growing number of infestation from COVID-19, on 14th April [ 15 ], Indian government declared an extended 2nd phase lockdown till 3rd May which was further lengthened till 17th May and later imposed till 31st May [ 14 ]. To make the lockdown and social distancing effective, India also levied the quarantine law under the Epidemic Disease Act, 1897. This 123-year-old legislation allows a state/country to inspect people traveling by railways, ships (air travel was not an option at that time when this law was created), and segregate suspects in hospitals, under temporary accommodations, or otherwise to prevent the spread of dangerous pandemic disease [ 16 ]. However, this is very trivial compared to North Korea's law where the military was imposed to enforce a quarantine [ 17 , 18 ].

Looking at the current trend in India, after the first confirmed case been reported on 30th January, the total number of confirmed patients reached 107 by 15th March, and since then, the number of positive cases is incessantly increasing. Within 15 days (15th to 30th March), confirmed cases of COVID-19 in India multiplied by 10 times. As of 30th March, India crossed more than 1071 cases with 29 deaths. Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) projected that India can reduce the cases by 62% if social distancing and proposed quarantine interventions are effectively executed. Another research revealed that India may corroborate nearly 13 lakh cases by mid-May if the spread of the virus is not contained, which however can be reduced with increased testing, obeying stringent measures, and implementing restrictions [ 19 ]. Nevertheless, in India COVID-19 cases reached 1,01,139 by 18th May. Initially, it was considered that India was dealing well with a low number of positive cases from COVID-19 because of the constricted transmission during a lockdown and social distancing [ 20 ], however, at the end of all lockdown phases, India experienced a total of 1,90,648 confirmed case including 5407 deaths due to this disease [ 21 ]. Cities like Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, and Kolkata were identified as the COVID-19 hotspots with four major metropolitan cities accounted for nearly 40% of the COVID-19 cases in India [ 22 ]. It was speculated that the disease speeded in a higher number among children age ≤10 years and elder people diagnosed with other health issues [ 23 ]. Even though several researchers are now engaged to predict and estimate the COVID-19 cases and end of this pandemic [ [24] , [25] , [26] ], India is experiencing exponential growth in the number of COVID-19 cases. As of 11 th July 2020, India is the 3rd most COVID-19 infected country with currently 2,922,58 active cases, along with 5,34,620 patients being cured and discharged (recovery rate of 60.86%) followed by the demise of 22,674 COVID-19 infected patients. Fig. 1 shows the total infected cumulative cases in India till 11 th July 2020. The active, cured/discharged, deaths and total confirmed cases have been tabulated in Table 1 .

Cumulative total COVID-19 cases in India till 11th July 2020 [ 27 ].

Table 1

Total Covid-19 infections in different Indian states and Union Territories as of 1 st July 2020 [ 28 ].

2.2. Approaches and measure

The clinical features of COVID-19 include fever (not in all), breathing difficulty, cough, lethargy, headache, myalgia, sore throat, and conjunctivitis (also in some cases). Hence, distinguishing this disease from other respiratory infections is relentlessly challenging [ 29 , 30 ]. Presently, no successful antiviral treatment or vaccine is available for COVID-19. Patients with severe acute respiratory infection, respiratory distress, hypoxemia, or shock demands immediate oxygen therapy. As a protective measure against COVID-19 transmission, WHO instructed certain practices like through and regular washing of hands using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer or soap and water, whilst outside avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth, circumvent distance traveling or crowd gathering and, encouraged breastfeeding babies to enhance immunity.

The Indian government (central and state level) is working intensely to minimalize the number of cases and consequences daily and is taking all necessary steps to combat the challenges and threat posed by this growing invisible pandemic war involving public, medical association, nurses, NGOs, police forces, including paramilitary. Earnest efforts of all the frontline workers especially medical doctors, nurses, healthcare staff, sanitation workers, police personnel, volunteers, and active support and obedience of people of India has been the only possible reason owing to the control and treatment of pandemic. Additionally, to treat/stop this COVID-19 infection there is a pressing need to handle this battle at a scientifically advanced level. Indian government got critically involved with the COVID-19 outbreak and started scanning every person. Currently, the testing facility includes Real-time PCR test, Point-of-Care molecular diagnostic assays, rapid antibody test (suitable for surveillance as the results come after 7–10 days of the pandemic infection) and point of care rapid antigen detection test for early detection of COVID-19 [ [31] , [32] , [33] , [34] , [35] , [36] ]. Starting from less than 100 tests per day, on 18th May India reached a 2,00,000 test landmark in its fight against COVID-19. This 2000 fold increase became achievable with cooperation from airlines, railways, medical colleges, ministries, postal services, research institutions, and testing laboratories. In January 2020, India had a single laboratory testing for COVID-19, at the Indian Council of Medical Research's National Institute of Virology, Pune and on 20th May 555 laboratories were set up across the country and currently, there are 1105 operational labs (788 govt labs and 317 private labs) to deal with COVID-19 cases [ 37 ]. Cumulatively 1,15,87,153 samples are tested so far and 2,80,151 as on 11 th July 2020 [ 38 ]. Additionally, over 2.02 crore N95 masks and 1.18 crore PPE kits are distributed in Indian states and UTs for free since 1st April. India launched ‘ArogyaSetu’ mobile application for tracking the movements.

With no vaccine or antiviral drug available against SARS-CoV-2, Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) is being advised as chemoprophylaxis drug for asymptomatic healthcare personnel handling COVID-19 cases, frontline workers, and asymptomatic contacts of the confirmed cases while hydroxychloroquine-azithromycin combination is recommended for patients with serious sickness [ 39 ]. However, Indian Heart Rhythm Society recommends the use of HCQ as per the ICMR task force recommendations and strongly discourages its use for the general public without medical supervision and prescription [ 40 ]. Also, ICMR advised to conduct ECG palpitations, chest pain syncope) during the course of prophylaxis [ 41 ]. More than 6.12 crore HCQ tablets have been provided to states/UTs. Although the development and clinical trial of drugs is an ongoing process, the MoHFW, India stated that ≥1.5–2 years can be required for the development of a vaccine. Recently, Bharat Biotech International Ltd. in collaboration with ICMR – National Institute of Virology, Pune developed one COVID-19 vaccine. To investigate it more in-depth scrutiny, phase 1 and 2 clinical trials are permitted by the Drugs Controller General of India [ 42 ]. Even though the clinical trials of plasma therapy have been commenced by ICMR [ 43 ], the director general of ICMR advised that it’s too early to give green signals for the success of this treatment as the number of patients involved in this treatment is still comparably insignificant. A drug can only be considered gold standard if the trial when conducted randomly shows a significant positive result from half of the tested patients treated using the experimental drug over the other half, not treated with the experimental drug [ 44 ].

Ministry of AYUSH made recommendations based on Ayurvedic literature and scientific publications for preventive measures and boosting immunity with special references to respiratory health. Medicinal plants such as Tinospora cordifolia (for chronic fever), Andrographis paniculate (for fever and cold), Cydonia oblonga Zizyphus jujube Cordia myxa (Antioxidant for immune-modulatory, anti-allergic, smooth muscle relaxant and anti-influenza activity), Arsenicum album 30 (for Effective against SARS-CoV-2, immune-modulator), Agastya Haritaki (Upper respiratory infections), Anuthaila, Adathodai Manapagu, Bryonia alba, Rhus toxico dendron, Atropa belladonna, Bignonia sempervirens, and Eupatorium perfoliatum because of their antiviral, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, was considered and recommended to be favourable for the COVID-19 treatment and boosting immunity [ 45 ]. Ministry of AYUSH advised few health care measures and self-care guidelines for enhancing immunity (to fight against COVID-19) with ayurvedic procedures, like drinking warm water throughout the day, regular practice of Yogasana, Pranayama and meditation for at least 30 min, intake of spices like Haldi (Turmeric), Jeera (Cumin), Dhaniya (Coriander) and Lahsun (Garlic), drinking herbal tea/decoction (Kadha) made from Tulsi (Basil), Dalchini (Cinnamon), Kalimirch (Black pepper), Shunthi (Dry Ginger) and Munakka (Raisin) - once or twice a day, application of sesame/oil/coconut oil in the nostrils every morning/evening, oil pulling therapy, intake of chavanprash (10 gm/day), Golden Milk- Half teaspoon Haldi (turmeric) powder in 150 ml hot milk - once or twice a day, etc. Additionally, steam inhalation with fresh pudina, clove powder with honey can be taken to fight against dry cough/sore throat [ 46 ].

2.3. Indian economy due to COVID-19 (negative)

Indian economy, a developing market has already been in a crisis phase since last year when its economy reduced to 4.9% (in 2019) being the least since 2013. The primary reason for this downfall was Demonetisation in November 2016 which made 86% of the money in the economy unusable overnight [ 47 ]. This created a great negative impact on the growth of the industry e.g. demand for vehicles sale in India was low last year particularly the motorcycle which is a very attractive mode of transportation in rural India. Tourism is one of the most powerful sectors worldwide and India is no different. India ranked 34th among the 140 economies over the world in 2019. In 2018–2019 more than 10 million foreign tourists visited India and contributed an enormous amount into the Indian economy [ 48 , 49 ].

The day Prime Minister Narendra Modi first declared the 21 days of lockdown he also warned that this lockdown will have a negative economic impact and we have to pay the price for it. The All India Association of Industries (AIAI) estimated loss for Indian economy slated to be $640 million with growth slated to be between 5 and 5.6% till 2022 [ 50 , 51 ]. After the first lockdown phase, within 7 days, electricity demand reduced to 30%, traffic in port became 5% less, oil demand lessened by 70%, and Indian rail activity was below 36% compared to last year [ 47 ]. The unemployment rate increased to 19% after a month of lockdown and overall unemployment was 26% across India by 24th April. Hence, the lockdown has a havoc impact on small, medium, and large enterprises of the country, which led to no job and economic downturn condition [ 52 ].

Swiggy and Zomato, two key food delivery players already started laying off the employees [ 53 ]. Previously they both used to handle over a million orders a day across more than 300 cities. The tourism sector also expected to have 70% job losses [ 54 ]. Likewise, India has an economy where a large section of people depends on the daily wages e.g. autorickshaw drivers, carpenters, delivery boys, domestic laborers, scrap or waste collectors, tea girls, vegetable vendors, and waiters. Unaware of the end to this pandemic COVID-19 and restricted lockdown scenarios, returning to its pre-lockdown stage will take time. For 2020, the tourism industry and air travel are expected to suffer greatly, and India's GDP growth is expected to decline ∼2.5% from 5.3%.

However, complete lockdown in China can open a new place for the Indian economy as senior industrialists from India are hoping that India can be the new manufacturing hub for the world [ 55 ] nonetheless India needs to improve on the raw material sector otherwise this fact will not be a reality. India can take advantage particularly in the pharma industry, where India depends on 70% pharmaceutical ingredients [ 56 ]. Also, oil price reduced a lot from $68/barrel (on 3rd Jan) to $28.2/barrel (20th March) and India should take the advantages to buy them and store for future use as currently, the demand is low [ 57 ]. Even though there were huge economic losses due to lockdown but the government had no choice [ 58 ]. To stir up the economy Indian government is spending a $266 billion package which can improve 4% of the GDP [ 59 ]. These are a few measures but still not enough to reach India's previous growth of GDP.

2.4. Indian lifestyle, human life due to COVID-19 (negative)

Life in India includes urban and rural and they both got impacted by COVID-19. The disease in transmission was previously epicentre in all the major metro and capital cities of Indian states. However, both people from rural and urban sectors face a real traumatized situation. COVID-19 has created a negative impact on human life also. First to tame the COVID- 19 transmission, locked down and social distancing measure was taken. From 24th March, 1.3 billion people were in lockdown situations in India. Social distancing, advised in India, is difficult to follow for the urban poor who lives in slums or closed and small places. Mumbai (18.93° N, 72.83° E), the capital of Maharashtra state also known as the business centre of India is renowned for its large number of slums. It is estimated that 9 million people live in Mumbai slums where houses are fairly 10 ft by 10 ft and under such conditions obeying social distancing is a questionable issue [ 60 ]. In return, it can also be seen that in India number of COVID-19 cases are maximum in Maharashtra (37,136 cases by 20th May; 75995 cases by 1st July) and particularly high in the city [ 28 ]. In reality, social distancing is an oxymoron in such India's scenario [ 61 ].

Additionally, sudden lockdown enforcement on 24 th March 2020, forced millions of migrant workers to undergo an uncertain future without family, food, and job. Usually, more than 50 million people migrated from Assam, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal to Maharashtra and Delhi for work. Due to lockdown, these people were forced to move out of their cities and return to their homes in the countryside [ 62 ]. In the absence of transport facilities, workers with infants, pregnant women, and the elderly were forced to walk on foot [ 63 ]. Hence, India experienced the second-largest reverse mass in its history after the Partition of India in 1947. Prominent psychosocial issues are expected among migrants for pandemic COVID-19 and lockdown [ 64 , 64 , 65 ].

Additional directives for workplaces like work from home (WfH) were advised in India which is however suitable only for urban upper- and middle-class people and is challenging for the rural agriculture-based population. Also, India still lacks places with the facility of computers and the internet, and hence these WfH is a challenge [ 66 ]. The Indian IT industry with primarily call-centres and knowledge process outsourcing were not ready for the lockdown and WfH situation [ 67 ]. However, a 60% hike of Wi-Fi network equipment, e.g. routers and mobile hotspot dongles demand were observed in India during the COVID-19 lockdown and WfH scenario causing a little boost up to the telecom industry.

Parallelly, the education system is also currently at a halt due to COVID-19 in India. During this lockdown period, the educational institutions were closed which hampered the overall teaching-learning process and education system due to the unavailability of online and computer systems among all the students in rural India owing to the disparity of economic condition. However, accessibility of android mobile and 4G connection, mobile phones in the urban sector of India [ 68 ], resulted in running schools online, where rural sections remained deprived of education.

Medical facilities faced critical time in India. Under the normal scenario, available beds per 10,000 people were 3.2 for rural and 11.9 for urban [ 69 , 70 ] which had to increase to accommodate COVID-19 patients. Because of the busy schedule for COVID-19 cases, some disruption and discrepancies were observed for the other treatments. Little difficulties occurred for running the children vaccination program for tuberculosis, meningitis, pneumonia, whooping cough, tetanus, hepatitis B, and diphtheria [ 71 ]. For adults, disruption of kidney dialysis, chemotherapy services were also noticed [ 72 , 73 ]. Tuberculosis (TB) still possesses the highest level of burden in India which generally occurs due to malnutrition associated with poverty. Lockdown cases had a great increasing impact on the TB cases while they are also vulnerable to COVID-19 infection [ 74 ]. Nevertheless, to manage the COVID-19 cases, colleges, hotels, railway train coaches, were converted into quarantine facilities while stadiums were converted into isolation wards.

Isolation, fear, uncertainty, economic turmoil is namely a few issues that can greatly cause psychological distress among humans due to COVID-19 [ 75 ]. In India poverty, starvation, hunger is still an issue that will be escalated due to COVID-19. Mass unemployment is likely to create frustration and drive people to chronic stress, anxiety, depression, alcohol dependence, and self-harm. In the 2008 economic crisis, 10,000 “economic suicides” cases were reported across the US, Canada, and Europe, due to the financial crisis. For a country with the highest number of poor and malnourished, and individuals with depression and anxiety, India reported 1,34,516 suicides in 2018. Reportedly on 12 th Feb 2020, a 50-year-old man diagnosed with a viral illness had a constant fear of getting infected by COVID-19 and this led him to commit suicide [ 76 ]. From 19th March to 2nd May, 338 deaths were reported due to lockdown which includes suicides arising due to fear from corona, self-isolation, starvation, and financial distress [ 77 , 78 ]. Further, suicide cases were registered for the reason of banning alcohol [ 79 ] during the lockdown period [ 80 ]. Impact of lockdown on orthopaedic surgeons in India (611 orthopaedic surgeons from 140 cities in India participated in this survey) was conducted and it was found that 22.5% of surgeons faced stressed while 40.5% faced mild stress [ 81 ]. Further staying at home during the lockdown, caused poor physical activity and unhealthy food habits which in turn generates weight gain, diabetes and increases the risk of developing cardiovascular disease [ 82 , 82 , 83 , 83 ].

Comparably some positive health issues were also observed. During the analysis performed using 100 registered patients from MV Hospital for Diabetes, Diabetes Research Centre, Chennai, it was observed that among 92% of the participants who have Type 2 diabetes, 80% of patients followed a routine lifestyle and controlled diet during the lockdown period while 40% of the participants were anxious for COVID-19 infection [ 84 ]. Another probably positive side of the lockdown is people are now staying home and have time for family, which is only legitimate with economically stable families [ 85 ].

2.5. Indian overall environment scenario (Positive)

Air pollution in India is severe and has an adverse impact on human health causing more than 3,50,000 new cases of childhood asthma and 16,000 premature death every year [ 86 ]. This is due to the presence of NO 2 and particulate matter in the range of 2.5–10 μm diameter in the air generated from fossil fuel burning and primarily from the transport sector in India. Due to lockdown, air flight, and every possible mode of transportation, along with industries, which are the primary sources of air pollution were ceased. Hence an improved air quality was visible [ 87 , 87 , 88 , 88 ].

Probably environment is the only sector that got an immensely positive impact form this COVID-19 scenario [ 89 ]. International energy agency reported that global coal use was 8% lower in the first quarter in 2020.

This Fig. 2 shows the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite of India before and after lock-down and also the previous year. A considerable amount of reduction in nitrogen dioxide concentrations reduction was observed. Delhi and Mumbai had a 40–50% NO 2 emission reduction compared to the previous year. The electricity consumption level declined by up to 9.2% while vital industrial states Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra faced a 5% reduction in electricity consumption during the end of March 2020. Several cities in Gujarat (Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Vadodara, and Surat) are equipped with power plants, transportation, outdoor waste incineration, construction, and brick kilns resulting poor air quality, also recorded a 30% power consumption decline due to lock-down [ 90 , 91 ] along with a 34–75% reduction of particulate matter, SO2, NO2, and CO, was between which enhanced the air quality index [ 92 ]. In India, coal-fired power generation was 15% less in March and 30% less in April [ 93 ]. Except for two units at Dadri Power Plant, all other coal-based power plants within a 300 km radius of Delhi (Haryana, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh) were shut down due to low demand. Because of the locked down in March, total fossil fuel consumption reduced to 18% compared to last year's March [ 86 ]. The first phase-locked down showed that air quality particularly the reduction of NO 2 . Delhi the capital of India which experienced air quality index up to 900, now air quality index below 20, because of the absence of 11 million registered cars from the road. The reduction of PM 2.5 was alarming in Delhi [ 94 ]. Dwarka river basin of Eastern India is highly polluted because of stone quarrying and crushing. During the lockdown period, it was found that the maximum PM10 concentration reduced from 278 μg/m3 (pre lockdown) to 50–60 μg/m3 after 18 days of the lockdown in that area. An improvement in the quality of the Yamuna river (concentrations of pH, EC, dissolved oxygen, biological oxygen demand, and chemical oxygen demand reduced by 1–10%, 33–66%, 51%, 45–90%, and 33–82% respectively) was also observed due to the shutting down of the Delhi-NCR industries, which mostly discharged the wastes and the toxic effluents into the river (vice-chairman of Delhi Jal Board Raghav Chadha. S) [ 95 ]. The surface temperature was reduced by 3–5 °C while the noise level dropped to <65dBA from above 85dBA [ 96 ]. Further, water quality of river Ganga was also improved during lockdown conditions [ 97 ]. Critically endangered, South Asian River Ganges Dolphins also were spotted back in the Ganga river after 30 years. Tens of thousands of flamingos have gathered in the city of Navi Mumbai. The birds normally migrate to the area every year, but residents have reported that this year they have seen a massive increase in their numbers. The Uttarakhand Pollution Control Board also reported that the Water from Har-ki-Pauri in Haridwar is 'fit for drinking after chlorination', which is due to the absence of industrial drainage waste into the river [ 98 ].

Nitrogen dioxide emission before and after a lockdown in India [ 90 ].

3. Discussion

India is still struggling and not sure when the peak will come. Researchers are involved to create theories and forecasting models [ 99 , 100 ]. It is certain that during the first phase of lockdown COVID-19 infected cases were under controlled [ 101 ]. Because of the population and population density lockdown was needed [ 102 ]. It should be mentioned that the People of India followed the Government prescribed rules and were knowledgeable about the drastic impact of COVID-19 hence tried to abide by the regulations [ 103 , 104 ]. Lockdown reduced the transmission and several countries got success from it. By the first week of March 2020, several countries like China, Italy, Spain, and Australia were fighting with the COVID-19 pandemic by taking strict measures like nationwide lockdown or by cordoning off the areas that were suspected of having risks of community spread [ 105 ].

India is currently facing dreadful impact from COVID-19 and due to its combined fear and lockdown scenario, a majority of Indians will face unemployment which will trigger them towards hunger issues, poverty, and mental illness. Even though it is still not clear whether coronavirus or hunger is prepotent to which Indians are exposed every day. So far it is clear that COVID-19 created a mixed impact on society including the economy, lifestyle, and environment. It is hard to imagine that the traumatic experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic will be forgotten quickly or disappear entirely over time. Lack of trust may grow between the citizen and the institution body. There is no space to celebrate or follow any model as there is a chance of the second wave.

There is a probable chance to have the second wave of COVID-19 and if that occurs India will suffer in huge from every aspect [ 106 ]. Previously in 2009, HIN1 influenzas flu and 1918 influenza pandemic both had the second wave, and that was more drastic than the first one [ 107 ]. In another study, it was predicted that India may see 2.87 lakh cases per day by the end of 2021 [ 108 ].

4. Conclusion

Thus, how India is the topic of discussion in this work. In this work, how India is equipped to deal with an increasing number of COVID-19 cases, coping with the current situation such as adverse effects on the economy, human living, and environment during the COVID-19 lockdown period along with various approaches undertaken to overcome this pandemic is discussed. Three segments were emphasized here: the economy, human life, and environment. It is evident that while the first two have a negative impact due to corona, the environment has an immensely positive impact. However, it's a big question for India that whether COVID-19 or hunger is the real issue now? As for the COVID-19 Indian economy is at a halt, thereby the unemployment number will be increasing in the future. Also, without proper vaccination, containing COVID-19 cases is a real challenge.

Authors contribution

Conceptualization: A.G.; Data curation: A.G.; Investigation; AG, SN; Project administration: AG,TM; Resources:AG,SN,TM; Supervision: AG, Roles/Writing - original draft: AG; Writing - review & editing: AG,SN,TM.

This work did not receive any specific grant.

Declaration of competing interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Major Economic Crisis in Indian Economy

To understand the dynamics of economic re­forms one must know the economic policies that India pursued during 1951-1990.

Devel­opment goals of the country consisted of higher economic growth, self-reliance, poverty eradication, social justice, etc.

Developmental strategy of the time came to be known as ‘in­ward-looking strategy’ that consisted of con­trols and regulations of the economy through industrial licences and import controls. That is to say, state intervention was essentially inevitable.

As we proceed, we will picturise the inefficiencies of the Indian economy, the consequences arising out of such, and, finally, the changes in economic policies since July 1991 consequent upon grave economic crisis that erupted in the late 1980s and culminated in mid-1991. It is often argued that the origins of the severe macroeconomic crisis of the late 1980s and early years of the 1990s could be traced to the inward-oriented strategy of de­velopment.

1. 1951-1981:

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The Indian economy started its journey in 1951 when the First Five Year Plan was launched. This first phase of devel­opment could be characterised as the ‘decade of crisis’ when the country faced the problem of Partition (1947-48) and the consequent food crisis and foreign exchange crisis. It was be­cause of the crisis of such grave nature that the country could not overcome the ‘teething troubles’ associated with the early develop­ment of the country after independence.

During the 1960s, a higher growth was achieved and ‘pre-conditions for take off’ be­came visible.

But the country experienced three twos during 1960s:

(i) deaths of two prime ministers (Jawaharlal Nehru and Lalbahadur Sashtri)

(ii) two wars with China (1962) and Pakistan (1965), and

(iii) two droughts in 1965 and 1966.

The crisis was so grave that the country had to import large amount of foodgrains from other countries— a condition known as ‘ship to mouth’. The In­dian economy then made a retrograde journey.

The 1970s was called the ‘decade of change’ or ‘reform by stealth’. In the 1970s, Indira Gan­dhi found that the brand of socialism initiated by her father had resulted in some social con­flicts. During her initial stewardship, we saw some conflicts between government and pri­vate industrialists.

She took up some anti-rich policies like, abolition of princely states, bank nationalisation, and implementation of MRTP (Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices) provisions to curb the growth of large mo­nopoly houses, nationalisation of coal indus­try, and many anti-poverty measures. Signs of pitfalls in our economic policies were rais­ing their ugly heads and the need for reforms became uppermost in the minds of the policymakers’. However, the economic and political climate was not propitious for reforms since the mindset of the Indian leaders and policymakers was still pro-government.

The growth scenario that we saw during 1951-1979 was rather discouraging. As real GDP grew at an annual rate of around 3.5 p.c. during 1951 and until 1980, Raj Krishna chris­tened this economic performance as ‘Hindu rate of growth’ a syndrome that continued for almost 30 years. During 1980, China and India had been ranked as the 19th and the 20th largest economic power in the world. And, it was believed that such growth rate was ‘in­evitable’. But why?

2. 1980s and Structural Problems:

During her last phase of life in the early 1980s, Indira Gandhi continued her tirade against private sector banks. She nationalised 6 more banks and attempted to further liberalise the Indian economy more. One could see then raising of the exemption limit from licensing, relaxations to MRTP (Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices) and FERA (Foreign Exchange Regu­lation Act) companies, delicensing, etc., to woo private investors. Meanwhile, her assassina­tion in 1984 upset all economic calculations.

One thing clear from such economic policies pursued then is that the country had been moving more towards capitalist path of de­velopment—a deviation from Nehru’s so- called socialistic path of development often called Nehruvian socialism.

In this connection, Sukhamoy Chakravarty’s comment in 1987 is worth reading. “…as of now, there is no evidence that despite the growth of a large public sector, India has moved to any significant extent closer to a ‘so­cialist society’, in any meaningful sense of the term. If the present trends are not going to be reversed, it is possible that India will witness in the closing decade of this century a consid­erably enlarged private sector with further erosion of the role of planning in the tradi­tional sense of the term.”

As soon as Rajiv Gandhi came to power in 1985, he experimented with liberalisation on a grand scale hitherto unknown in the Indian economy. He had a different vision to put the Indian economy in the 21st century. His ex­periment with liberalisation put the Indian economy in a different gear.

He said that his primary objective was to ‘rationalise’ controls and regulations so as to remove inefficiencies of the Indian economy. Several industries were delicensed; imports of capital goods and intermediate goods as well as technologies were liberalised. Earlier, license-permit-quota raj affected industrial growth adversely.

With the slackening of such controls, i.e., with the growing liberalisation of the Indian economy, a higher growth rate was struck 5.5 p.c. the syndrome of Hindu rate of growth (3.5 p.c.) was, thus, broken. With the emergence of the Bofors scandal involving Rajiv Gandhi result­ing in political turmoil, piecemeal reforms were abandoned.

(iii) Outcomes of Faulty Economic Policies:

To understand the dynamics of economic re­forms, one must have some knowledge about the economic policies pursued during 1951- 1991. Development goals of the country con­sisted of higher economic growth, social jus­tice, poverty eradication, self-reliance.

To achieve these goals, our institutional structure centred on the mixed economy principle where both public and private sectors func­tioned with their distinctive roles. Economic activities were carried through planning mechanism with less emphasis on market mechanism. Development strategy of this time came to be known as ‘inward-looking strat­egy’. This strategy consisted of controls and regulations of the economy through industrial licenses and import controls.

The outcomes of control-ridden economy were the emergence of inefficiencies of the economy. It is said that control and scarcity create a vicious circle of low productivity (Fig. 7.1.) Scarcity demands control that brings in rationing in distribution line. This creates delays in the creation of new productive ca­pacity and, hence, lower output. This results in demand-supply imbalances. Imbalances, in turn, cause corruption, black marketing, etc., thereby raising costs of industrial goods and hence, low productivity. Tax evasion becomes rampant leading to a shortfall in revenue. Fur­ther, controlled price is often set at an un-remunerative level. This makes lower internal revenue generation. This demands distribu­tion of commodities with more controls and regulations.

As a result of this vicious cycle, Indian in­dustries could not become efficient and com­petitive.

Since experiment with liberalisation was launched rather haltingly and without both­ering for the economic fallouts of such meas­ures, Indian economy landed in a new crisis, hitherto unknown. All along, the country rather fairly succeeded in maintaining the some sort of financial discipline despite odds (like oil crisis in 1973 and 1979, high rate of inflation of around 23 p.c. p.a etc.). The coun­try then experienced huge fiscal deficit. Truly speaking, in the ‘decade of growth and expan­sion’ of 1980s, we saw a change in the under­lying philosophy.

Epoch-making changes were brought out in economic policies and perceptions. Percep­tions changed. No longer market is bad. It is said that planning is dead, government or state is bad and market is good. Socialism now be­came a dirty word, particularly after the col­lapse of the Soviet Union.

A journey towards deregulation, privatisation, debureaucratisation started with a great bang. Earlier, re­forms could not be initiated on this scale be­cause the Government was not serious enough to go against the public mood. Opposition from vested interests like bureaucrats who amassed huge benefits from the controlled economy was another reason for not intro­ducing reforms in the Indian economy.

During the 1980s, as industrialisation became heavily import-dependent, BOP dif­ficulties rearer up its ugly head. In fact, liber­alisation measures introduced by Rajiv Gan­dhi encouraged import of ‘screw-driver tech­nology’, palpably visible in electronic indus­tries. Industrial structure exhibited dominance of durable consumer goods industries. Growth in employment during 1988-91 hovered around 1.4 p.c. p.a. Number of people living below the poverty lines increased, though pov­erty ratio declined from 54.9 p.c. in 1973-74 to 39 p.c. in 1987-88.

All these resulted in serious fiscal imbal­ances. Budgetary deficit mounted up. This fuelled the inflationary pressures (15-16 p.c. p.a.). BOP deficit in current account that stood at 3.7 p.c. of GDP brought tremendous miserly to the people. Liberalisation of the economy caused the imports bill to shoot.

To tide over the unprecedented BOP crisis, necessity was felt for borrowing from abroad. Foreign debt rose to a higher magnitude at that time. To reduce such burden of debt, borrowings were needed. Repayment of loans required further borrowing—thereby triggering debt-service ratio to 30 p.c.

No country dared to give loans to India as her financial credibility went down to a staggering level. Finding no other alter­native, the country pledged 20 tonnes of con­fiscated gold in May 1991 and another 47 tonnes in July 1991 for 6 month in banks of foreign countries to finance her import bill. Foreign exchange reserves were down to about 2 weeks’ imports. Financial credibility of the Government reached its nadir. No coun­try risked giving loans to India as she might default.

All these compelled the Indian Govern­ment to initiate dialogue with the IMF and the World Bank, though it was overdue during the Gulf War. The country also saw political instability and frequent changes of the Gov­ernment. This caused the postponement of taking such loans from the IMF. Meanwhile, a Minority Government headed by P.V. Narasimha Rao came to power in June 1991 and announced several short term and long term measures beyond the typical stabilisation package so that the country does not sink further.

What is important now is that the days of Nehruvian socialism characterised by state- sponsored development in an environment of rigid controls, bureaucracy and inward-look­ing development of the Indian economy have gone. As the development experience of the 1980s and early 1990s was terrible, it called for immediate changes in economic policies.

However, crisis and changes in economic policies were not peculiar to India alone at that time. Demise of the Soviet planning system in 1989 and increasing globalisation and marketisation of the Chinese economy launched in 1978 accompanied by remarkable growth performance of the Chinese economy and, above all, India’s home-made domestic crisis created over the years brought changes in her economic policies in mid-1991 as a part of the overall global process.

Marketisation, liberalisation, privatisation, debureaucratisation and outward orientation of economy were the principal ingredients of the New Economic Policy (NEP) introduced in July 1991. The World Bank propagated that aid, but not trade, is the engine of growth. It recommended market-friendly development strategies (See Table 7.1).

(iv) Reforms of the 1990s and Onwards:

To repeat, the three macroeconomic crisis that below out of proportions in the early years of 1990s were: (i) acceleration of inflation (16.3 p.c. in August 1991); (ii) unsustainable fiscal deficit (6.6 p.c. in 1991, 30 p.c. debt-service bur­den, and hence, debt trap); (iii) fragile balance of payments situation (current account deficit of 3.69 p.c. of GDP in 1991).

Against the back­drop of these major, unprecedented, unsus­tainable economic crisis, new economic policy reforms were required to be initiated without any doubts to avert further deterioration.

The diagnosis and the solution of the crisis could then be addressed in terms of neo-classical theory that says that a liberalised economy or more specifically, market economy, is more efficient than a controlled-regulated economy. State intervention and state planning is ‘costly’ now to the Indian economy, as was suggested by the IMF-World Bank.

The two important planks of NEP were: (i) macroeconomic adjustment and balances (called structural adjustment programmes), and (ii) reconstruction of the Indian economy through macroeconomic stabilisation. To bring macroeconomic adjustments and macr­oeconomic stabilisation, measures were taken to reduce fiscal deficit, maintenance of BOP equilibrium and containment of inflation. For these purposes, loans from the IMF and the World Bank were sought.

Former policy measures i.e., structural ad­justments are taken to improve the supply of the economy through reforms in industrial sector (like deregulation and delicensing, dis­investment of public sector enterprises), re­forms in trade and capital flows, reforms in the financial sector, etc. These policies are called supply side management policies.

On the other hand, macroeconomic stabilisation policy—or the so-called demand management policy—centres around inflation control, im­provement of the BOP situation and fiscal adjustment to correct fiscal imbalances. It sug­gested that imports were to be liberalised; im­port duties were to be reduced; quotas and quantitative restrictions were to be re­moved; Indian currency was to be devalued by at least 22 p.c.; privatisation of Public sec­tor enterprises (PSEs) were to be made; budg­etary deficit and fiscal deficit were to be re­duced. Thus, the Indian Economy entered a phase what is euphemistically called the LPG (Liberalisation-Privatisation-Globalisation) strategy of development.

Related Articles:

• 8 Major Problems Faced by the Indian Economy
• Ingredients of Globalisation of Indian Economy
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• International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Indian Economy

Home — Essay Samples — Economics — Indian Economy — Impact Of Covid-19 On The Indian Economy

Impact of Covid-19 on The Indian Economy

• Categories: Covid 19 India Indian Economy

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Published: Feb 8, 2022

Words: 1417 | Pages: 3 | 8 min read

Table of contents

Introduction.

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_India
• https://www.researchgate.net/publication/341266520_Effect_of_COVID-19_on_the_Indian_Economy_and_Supply_Chain
• https://etinsights.et-edge.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/KPMG-REPORT-compressed.pdf

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Essay on Indian Economy

India’s economy is described as huge, complex and growing. It is one of the most exciting and emerging markets in the world. Since 1951, India has grown as a planned economy. The first few plans focused on growth with the strengthening of the manufacturing sector, emphasising heavy industries to form the backbone of the economy. Other principal areas of planning were agriculture and social development. During the post-independence period and the period of the “Five-year plans”, efforts were focused on identifying the needs of the economy. Further, the economic reforms in the early 90s opened a new chapter in India’s economic history. It gave India an opportunity to shake off the shackles of its past and emerge on the world stage as a progressive nation. This essay on the Indian Economy will help students know about the Indian economy in detail.

Students can go through the list of CBSE Essays on different topics. It will help them to improve their writing skills and also increase their scores on the English exam. Moreover, they can participate in different essay writing competitions which are conducted at the school level.

500+ Words Essay on the Indian Economy

India is on the high road to economic growth. Since 2020, the world economy has declined due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Repeated waves of infection, supply-chain disruptions and inflation have created challenging times. Faced with these challenges, the Government of India has taken immediate action so that it has the least impact on the Indian economy.

The Indian economy has been staging a sustained recovery since the second half of 2020-21. However, the second wave of the pandemic in April-June 2021 was more severe from a health perspective. The national lockdown has affected small businesses, common people and everyone in India. Due to this, the Indian economy has gone down. But now, it is slowly rising up and taking its form.

Role of Agriculture in the Indian Economy

Agriculture is one of the most important sectors of the Indian economy. It supplies food and raw materials in the country. At the time of independence, more than 70% of India’s population depended on agriculture to earn a livelihood. Accordingly, the share of agriculture in the national product/income was as high as 56.6% in 1950-51. However, with the development of industries and the service sector, the percentage of the population depending on agriculture, as well as the share of agriculture in the national product, has come down. Agriculture is the source of food supply. Agriculture is also a major source of foreign exchange earnings through export. The share of agriculture in India’s export in the year 2011-12 was 12.3%. The major items of export include tea, sugar, tobacco, spices, cotton, rice, fruits and vegetables, etc.

Role of Industry in India’s Economy

Industry is the secondary sector of the economy and is another important area of economic activity. After independence, the Government of India emphasised the role of industrialisation in the country’s economic development in the long run. Initially, the public sector contributed the maximum to economic growth. In the early 1990s, it was found that the public sector undertakings were not performing up to expectations. So, in 1991, the Indian Government decided to encourage the role of the private sector in industrial development. This step was taken to strengthen the process of industrialisation in India.

The progress of the Indian economy after independence was impressive indeed. India became self-sufficient in food production due to the green revolution, and industries became far more diversified. However, we still have to go a long way to become a 5 trillion economy by 2025. But, with government effort and the right policymakers, it can be achieved.

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Counselling

India’s income inequality widens, should wealth be redistributed?

Rising income inequality is a hot topic dominating the national elections.

India is the fastest-growing major economy in the world. But, the benefits of India’s growth are not trickling down to poor people. The richest 1 percent of the population owns 40 percent of the country’s wealth.

The inequality gap has widened sharply under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decade in power. It is now a flashpoint in the country’s national elections, with hot topics including inheritance taxes and wealth redistribution.

Also, how much does the United States spend on foreign aid and does the funding help boost global stability?

Plus, why has Zambia banned charcoal production permits?

Moral Failures

There are no magic bullets for india’s economic crisis.

IN THE DOCUMENTARY The Fog of War, the former US defence secretary Robert McNamara says that if the Americans had lost the Second World War, they—especially, he—would have been prosecuted as a war criminal for fire-bombing Tokyo. His message was that the victor sets the rules and writes the narrative. Today, Indian and international elites, refusing to confront the economic and moral crisis India faces, have established a dominant narrative of a rising India poised to make generational leaps with the power of digital transformation.

In betting on an Indian decade, even an Indian century, commentators are playing a high-stakes game with house money, at no risk to themselves. The risk falls on hundreds of millions of Indians trapped in distressed agriculture or in the pool of unemployed, underemployed and poorly-paid urban workers. The pursuit of magic bullets leaves the fundamental tasks of economic development dangerously undone.

To understand the hazards that India faces, consider the two development paths taken following the Second World War. East Asian nations followed Japan’s pre-war example. They invested heavily in human capital, including in mass education and health, in the inclusion of more women into the workforce and in labour-intensive manufactured exports. They experimented with high-risk industrial policy, but never lost sight of the core goals of human development and job creation. As a result, they created economies that were, at the same time, egalitarian and rapidly growing. The overwhelming international evidence is that an economic strategy that promotes a fair sharing of the pie also enlarges the pie rapidly.

Latin American countries followed the other development approach, one that gave low priority to human capital and labour-intensive manufacturing. Brazil is the poster child for this strategy. From early in the post-war years, its growth came to depend on finance and real estate. Agribusiness and export of commodities created a large source of foreign exchange, which bid up the price of the Brazilian currency. This, in turn, undercut the potential of labour-intensive manufactured exports. And, as labour congregated in the informal sector to provide low-end goods and services, the country found itself burdened by a gargantuan and stubbornly persistent inequality, which remained immune to redistribution efforts even under the left-leaning president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Brazil bifurcated into two countries. The elites, in their gated communities, had little interest in policies to foster equal opportunity. Citizens in the other Brazil came to rely on precarious jobs, struggled with poverty and were often compelled to pursue criminal careers. New technologies—WhatsApp and e-commerce—blended into the favelas and open sewers of vulnerable Brazilians.

The Economic Times daily newspaper is available online now.

India could become 3rd largest economy by 2027-28, extreme poverty in rural areas largely conquered: arvind panagariya.

Arvind Panagariya, Chairman of the 16th Finance Commission, predicts that India could become the world's third-largest economy by 2027-28 if it sustains its growth trajectory of the past two decades. He notes that extreme poverty, which currently affects less than 3% of the population, has significantly declined, especially in rural areas. Panagariya emphasizes the need to address under-employment in agriculture by transitioning workers to the industrial and services sectors for faster urbanization.

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Crisis faced in India – moral or economic - UPSC PDF Download

The Oxfam report, launched at the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland, brought out the gaping gap between the haves and havenots. While, billionaire fortunes increased by 12% in the last year, the poorest half of humanity saw their wealth decline by 11%. The government further fuels these inequalities by underfunding public welfare services like health care and education, under taxing the wealthy, and failing to prevent tax evasions on the other. So the main reason we are in economic crises could well be attributed to moral crises. Scams of unabashed irregularities of colossal value, misappropriation of public funds, and lack of implementation of policies in its truest sense have made the country poorer. India is a socialist, secular, democratic, republic and resolves to provide: Justice, liberty, equality, and fraternity to all. This is the promise taken in the preamble of the constitution, by each of us, as it says, we the people..... Can the hungry and the poor, worried about his next meal, health, and survival, think about all that was promised to him? Fortunately for us, he cannot. He does not even know it. He has had no education. But the educated masses know this, and therefore it is their moral duty to provide the deprived of what is due to him. ‘The biggest enemy of health in the developing countries is poverty’ Kofi Annan. Health is an indicator of the development of the human resource of a country. Advancing human development requires, first and foremost, providing the facility of medical aid to avoid premature death by disease or injury. The Indian Government‘s expenditure on healthcare is only 1% of GDP. Should this not be called a moral issue when we talk of investment in bullet trains on the other hand? Health care, immunization, safe and clean environment, nutrition, and education should be on a war footing. A healthy population will be an asset to the country and contributes to its economic growth. So to grow as an economic power, investment needs to be done at the grassroots level. The Mohalla clinics, primary health care centres in the neighbourhood in Delhi are readily assessable. Getting timely treatment reduces further complications due to delay. Also, where the main out-of-pocket expense is medicine, it provides relief to the masses. It is a big saving for the poor, making their lot a little better. Medicines and health care need to be provided to the women and girl child with special impetus, as these have been downtrodden for far too long. Women are half the population. Neglecting them is to continue with the dogmas of being gender biased and shutting our eyes to 50% of productive human resources. This is morally and economically incorrect, though these are rampant in rural and urban India. Another important aspect of developing our human resources is through education for all and building competencies to earn a living. If education is made free, just like providing free health services, one will live a much more decent life, where there will be a choice on how to spend. When spending increases, the demand improves, and economic crises will reduce. Education needs to be provided to all. The quality of education, safe schools with toilets is a moral responsibility of the government. Not having these basic requirements for the children is both an economic and moral crisis. Many business houses have ventured into education as their CSR (corporate social responsibility). How many of these are true for the benefit of the deprived lot is what they need to introspect. Economic crises happen due to a lack of morals and values, especially among society's haves. Every so often, the nation pays the price, and the impact of their misdeed rock the economy. The Vijay Malaya and the Nirav Modi scams have put the banking system's credibility to question. These are just two instances that have come to light. India, in recent years, witnessed Jobless Growth. Though the economic indicators showed economic growth, jobs did not grow. India adopted the trickledown effect for the economy, whereby taxes on wealthy and businessmen were reduced to act as a stimulant to increase business and employment opportunities. This way, the benefit is expected to percolate from higher classes to lower classes. This outcome was not achieved. It turned out to be non-inclusive, further deteriorated the plight of the working class, leading to an economic crisis. India must have a systemised approach to work on the skill development of the working class to increase their employability. This is morally and economically the right approach. Skill development schemes of the government are a step in the right direction to hone the capabilities of the unemployed. But who got the contracts to do? How much benefit reached the workers? Did it really make a difference to the working population? The rigorous procedure for government jobs is hardly promising. It may take almost a year for the process of selection. It takes even longer to get placed after that. That is, if there is no writ filed at any stage, which is almost so common nowadays, indeed frustrating to the applicant who has worked so hard to clear the exams. The dichotomy is that there are so many vacancies, which are not filled and institutions remain poorly staffed. There are so many applicants for the job, and still, the economy cannot absorb them gainfully. This is another grave economic crisis in our country. Another feature that is noticed is the ‘casualization’ of the workforce. The workers are not made permanent so that the industry will not have to abide by norms like provident funds, medical insurance, etc. Is this not the moral bankruptcy of the employers? They deprive their workers of their moral rights by just stifling their right to demand what is rightfully due to them. Women's safety at workplaces, in general, is a concern. Women in the labour force are not paid as much as their counterparts, though the constitution provides equal pay without discrimination. In fact, she faces subjugation right from birth. The male child gets better nutrition, health care, education, and love than the girl child. She is the first to be withdrawn from benefit in case of adversity. She is victimised and traumatised and sometimes pushed into lecherous hands for no dubious reasons other than economic strife or gain. The agitations witnessed for reservation of the Jats and the Patels is due to the paucity of opportunity to study or work. All agitations and communal riots, which display hostility and lack of bonhomie, are an outcry by the commons to get attention to their problems. The problem of terrorism also does have its roots in what they feel is injustice meted out to them on both moral and economic grounds. If it were to become mandatory for government employees to send their children to government schools and treatment was to be taken at a government hospital, the common person's pain would be understood, and there would be much improvement in these services. On the part of the government, proper thought of repercussions should be studied before announcing any policy impacting the masses. Then a thorough follow-up needs to be done to make sure their objective has been realised. Agencies taking up the task need to be accountable. With these little steps, India can emerge from crises both moral and economic. If Japan could rise out of the ashes like a phoenix, after all, was lost in the horrific Hiroshima Nagasaki bomb blast, our country, despite the setbacks of subjugation of being under foreign rule, can surely come out clean of these crises.

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Essay on Indian Economy for Students and Children

500+ words essay on indian economy.

India is mainly an agricultural economy . Agricultural activities contribute about 50% of the economy. Agriculture involves growing and selling of crops, poultry, fishing, cattle rearing, and animal husbandry. People in India earn their livelihood by involving themselves in many of these activities. These activities are vital to our economy. The Indian economy has seen major growth in the last few decades. The credit for this boom largely goes to the service sector. Agriculture and associated activities have also been improvised to match the global standards and the export of various food products has seen an upward trend thereby adding to the economic growth. The industrial sector does not lag behind a bit. A number of new large scale, as well as small scale industries, have been set up in recent times and these have also proved to have a positive impact on the Indian economy.

Government’s Role in Economic Growth

Majority of the working Indian population was and is still engaged in the agriculture sector. Growing crops, fishing, poultry and animal husbandry were among the tasks undertaken by them. They manufactured handicraft items that were losing their charm with the introduction of the industrial goods. The demand for these goods began to decline. The agricultural activities also did not pay enough.

The government identified these problems as hindering the economic growth of the country and established policies to curb them. Promotion of cottage industry, providing fair wages to the laborers and providing enough means of livelihood to the people were some of the policies laid by the government for the country’s economic growth.

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The Rise of the Industrial Sector

The government of India also promoted the growth of small scale and large scale industry as it understood that agriculture alone would not be able to help in the country’s economic growth. Many industries have been set up since independence. A large number of people shifted from the agricultural sector to the industrial sector in an attempt to earn better.

Today, we have numerous industries manufacturing a large amount of raw material as well as finished goods. The pharmaceutical industry, iron and steel industry , chemical industry, textile industry, automotive industry, timber industry, jute, and paper industry are among some of the industries which have contributed a great deal in our economic growth.

The Growth in Service Sector

The service sector has also helped in the growth of our country. This sector has seen growth in the last few decades. The privatization of the banking and telecom sectors has a positive impact on the service sector. The tourism and hotel industries are also seeing a gradual growth. As per a recent survey, the service sector is contributing to more than 50% of the country’s economy.

Indian Economy after Demonetization

The worst affected were the people in the rural areas who did not have access to internet and plastic money. This affects many big and small businesses in the country very badly. Several of them were shut down as a result of this. While the short term effects of demonetization were devastating, this decision did have a brighter side when looked at from long term perspective.

The positive impact of demonetization on the Indian economy is a breakdown of black money, the decline in fake currency notes, increase in bank deposits, demonetization stopped the flow of black money in the real estate sector to ensure a fair play, increase in digital transactions, cutting monetary support for terrorist activities.

Many of our industries are cash-driven and sudden demonetization left all these industries starving. Also, many of our small scale, as well as large scale manufacturing industries, suffered huge losses thereby impacting the economy of the country negatively. Many factories and shops had to be shut down. This did not only impact the businesses but also the workers employed there. Several people, especially the laborers, lost their jobs.

The Indian economy undergoes several positive changes since independence. It is growing at a good pace. However, the rural regions of our country are still under-developed. The government must make efforts to improve the economic condition of these areas.

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India’s Water Crisis – How to Solve it?

From Current Affairs Notes for UPSC » Editorials & In-depths » This topic

Water is the most valuable natural resource as it is essential for human survival and life on earth. However, the availability of freshwater for human consumption is highly under stress because of a variety of factors. This crisis of water scarcity is most visible in India as well as in other developing countries.

This topic of “India’s Water Crisis – How to Solve it?” is important from the perspective of the UPSC IAS Examination , which falls under General Studies Portion.

What is water scarcity?

• Water scarcity is the lack of freshwater resources to satisfy water demand.
• It is manifested by partial or no satisfaction of expressed demand, economic competition for water quantity or quality, disputes between users, irreversible groundwater depletion, and negative effects on the environment.
• It affects every continent and was categorised in 2019 by the World Economic Forum as one of the largest global risks with respect to its potential impact over the next decade.
• One-third of the global population (2 billion people) live under situations of severe water scarcity at least one month of the year.
• Half a billion people in the world affected by severe water scarcity all year round.
• Half of the world’s largest cities have been facing water scarcity.

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How is the water scarcity measured?

• The absolute minimum water requirement for domestic usage is 50 litres per person per day, though 100-200 litres is often recommended.
• Considering the needs of agriculture, industry and energy sectors, the recommended minimum annual per capita requirement is about 1700 cubic meters .
• If a country like India has only about 1700 cu. meters water per person per year, it will experience only occasional or local water distress .
• If the availability falls below this threshold level, the country will start to experience periodic or regular water stress .
• If the water availability declines below 1000 cu. meters, the country will suffer from chronic water scarcity . Lack of water will then start to severely affect human health and well-being as well as economic development.
• If the annual per capita supply declines below 500 cu. meters, the country will reach the stage of absolute scarcity .

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What is the status of water availability in India?

• India receives 4000 bcm (billion cubic metres) rainfall each year. Out of this, 1869 bcm remains after evaporation = The actual availability is only 1137 bcm.
• Even in that 1137 bcm of water, there is a lot of temporal as well as regional variations in the availability.
• For instance, on the one side, there are water surplus states such as Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and on the other side, there are water scarce states such as Maharashtra (Vidarbha, Beed), Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and parts of Gujarat.
• Moreover, some states that are known to be water abundant such as Punjab, Haryana have their own issues.

What is the magnitude of the water crisis in India?

• Currently, the annual availability of water is 1123 bcm in India and the demand is around 750 bcm. However, by 2050 the annual demand for water will be 1180 bcm which will exceed the water availability = wide ramifications for the country.
• 70% of India’s water is contaminated.
• 75% of households do not have drinking water on its premises.
• 84% of rural households do not have access to piped water.
• 54% of the country’s groundwater is declining rapidly than it is being replenished.
• India’s water table is declining in most regions. Also, there is a presence of toxic elements like fluoride, arsenic, mercury, even uranium in our groundwater.
• Water levels in India’s major reservoirs have fallen to 21% of the average of the last decade.
• Hundreds of small and seasonal rivers are perishing permanently.
• Almost all the major perennial rivers remain stagnant.
• Cauvery and its tributaries haven’t met the ocean for decades; the upstream dams choke its flows downstream, affecting people in Tamil Nadu.
• Krishna river runs dry in her delta region for most of the year.
• According to NITI Aayog’s water quality index, India ranks 120 th among 122 countries.

What is the recent water crisis in India?

• Maharashtra is facing a water crisis of unprecedented proportions. After years of drought, the river currents have ebbed, water in dams and reservoirs have depleted and over-exploitation of groundwater has raised concerns regarding the long-term availability of water.
• Meanwhile, media reports claim IT firms in Chennai are asking employees to work from home. The reason is that they don’t have enough water to sustain their operations. It hasn’t rained for almost 200 days in the city and it may not get adequate rain to get over the water crisis for the next 3 months.
• In North India, the people of arid Thar Desert of Rajasthan are spending Rs. 2500 for getting 2500 litres of water which they share with their cattle.
• With Punjab facing the threat of desertification and the state struggling to break away from the wheat-paddy cycle, farmers in the state have been adopting a decade-old scheme to utilise underground pipeline system for irrigation.
• In light of this crisis, Central government on its part has created a Jal Shakti Ministry under a full-fledged cabinet minister to resolve the water crisis but a lot more needs to be done.

What are the reasons for this crisis?

Monsoon dependence:.

There is a huge dependence on monsoon rains to replenish most of India’s important water sources such as underground aquifers, lakes, rivers, and reservoirs . But monsoon is vulnerable to factors such as climate change, El-Nino , etc.

Uneven distribution of water and Rainfall pattern :

Certain regions have surplus amounts of water for their need while others face perennial droughts for most of the year. For instance, Drought is a recurrent phenomenon in Andhra Pradesh where no district is entirely free of droughts. Rajasthan is one of the most drought-prone areas of India.

Increasing demand :

Population growth, industrialization, rapid urbanisation, rising needs of irrigation and increase in domestic water usage have accelerated the demand for water. Since urbanization increases in India at a rapid pace = water demand will increase rapidly as city dwellers consume more water than rural people.

Urbanisation & Water scarcity:

• Currently, about 285 million or 33% of India’s total population resides in urban areas. By 2050 this figure will reach 50%.
• Rapid urbanisation is adding to the water scarcity issue in the country.
• Presence of buildings, tar, and cement roads = even if a city like Mumbai gets good rains, the rainwater is not retained in the area as the water is not allowed to percolate underground.
• Therefore, water required for cities is largely drawn from neighbouring villages and far-off rivers and lakes = threatening the availability in those areas.
• Large cities also generate large quantities of urban sewage which pollutes the freshwater sources and ocean waters. However, only about 20% of urban wastewater is currently treated globally. In India, the figure is even lower.

Overexploitation :

• In developing countries like India, groundwater fulfills nearly 80% of irrigation requirement = resulted in a fast depletion of groundwater sources.
• Free power and inefficient utilisation of water by farmers has added to the issue of groundwater depletion.
• The groundwater and sand extraction from most river beds and basins has turned unsustainable.
• Tanks and ponds are encroached upon.
• Dug-wells and borewells are carelessly built to slide deeper and deeper to suck water from greater depths.

Shift to cash-crops:

Water is being diverted from food crops to cash crops that consume an enormous quantity of water.

Inefficient cultivation practices:

• In India, around 70% of the population is still dependent on agriculture for its livelihood.
• Since the adoption of Green Revolution in the 1960s, nearly 50% of the food production comes from irrigated land.
• But inefficient cultivation practices have led to the flooding of fertile land which in turn has caused salinization, siltation of reservoirs, etc = causing groundwater reserves of major agricultural states to be depleted at an alarming rate.

Water Pollution :

• Release of industrial and domestic waste, including urban sewage, into rivers, lakes, and estuaries has polluted freshwater sources at an alarming rate in India = those fresh water sources are not fit for drinking or other activities.
• Eutrophication of surface water and coastal zones is expected to increase almost everywhere leads to nitrogen pollution .

What are the impacts of the water crisis?

Economic growth: A Niti Aayog report predicted that water demand will be twice the present supply by 2030 and India could lose up to 6% of its GDP during that time.

Power supply: Water shortages are hurting India’s capacity to generate electricity because 40% of thermal power plants are located in areas where water scarcity is high.

Agricultural crisis: Indian agriculture is heavily dependent on monsoon (not dependable) + Ineffective agricultural practices in irrigated areas = Water stress in agriculture = Poor Cultivation = Farmer suicides .

Drinking water scarcity: Not only farmers are affected by the water crisis, urban dwellers in cities and towns across India are also facing a never seen before drinking water scarcity.

Conflicts over water : In India, there are conflicts between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu over sharing of Cauvery waters, between Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh over sharing of Narmada waters, between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana over sharing of Krishna waters, etc.

What are the measures taken by the government?

Across the country, states are taking the lead:.

• In Rajasthan, there is a scheme named ‘Mukhya Mantri Jal Swavlamban Abhiyan’. One of its objectives is to facilitate effective implementation of water conservation and water harvesting related activities in rural areas.
• Maharashtra has launched a project called ‘Jalyukt-Shivar’, which seeks to make 5000 villages free of water scarcity every year.
• accelerating the development of minor irrigation infrastructure,
• strengthening community-based irrigation management and
• adopting a comprehensive programme for restoration of tanks.

Jal Shakti Abhiyan:

• It is a collaborative initiative of various Union Ministries and State Governments, being coordinated by the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS).
• Focus Area: is water-stressed districts (256) and blocks (1592).
• Team: Central government officers, headed by joint secretaries and additional secretaries, are assigned to these 256 districts and district administration will also select 2 members to join the team. This team of officers from the central government and district administration will visit and work on water-stressed districts and blocks to ensure water conservation initiatives.
• The campaign is centered on 5 aspects
• Water conservation and rainwater harvesting
• Renovation of traditional and other water bodies/tanks
• Reuse of water and recharging of structures like bore well
• Watershed development
• Intensive afforestation
• Significance: With this initiative, the government seeks to provide drinking water to all households on a priority and in a sustainable way. It is also expected to bring a positive mindset in people for water conservation. The campaign will assist people to work for rainwater harvesting, maintenance, and upkeep of ponds and village tanks and conservation of water.

Jal Shakti Mantralaya

• The government has created a new Ministry named ‘Jal Shakti’after merging Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation with the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation.
• Providing clean drinking water,
• International and inter-states water disputes,
• Namami Gange project aimed at cleaning Ganga and its tributaries, and sub-tributaries.
• The ministry will launch the government’s ambitious plan (‘Nal se Jal’ scheme under jal jivan plan) to provide piped drinking water supply to every household in India by 2024.
• This Move seeks to consolidate the administration and bringing water-related issues such as conservation, development, management, and abatement of pollution under a single ministry.
• National River Conservation Directorate (NRCD) is responsible for implementing the centrally sponsored national river conservation plan for all rivers across the country except river Ganga and its tributaries (as issues regarding Ganga and its tributaries are taken up by National Mission for Clean Ganga).

Jal Jeevan Mission *

Atal Bhujal Yojana *

•  It is a world bank funded central scheme that aims to improve groundwater management at the national level… Read More .

Can a new water ministry tackle the worst water crisis in Indian history?

• Experts are of the opinion that an exclusive ministry can only bring about a cosmetic but not a real change.
• Water is a state subject = Unless states make specific requests the centre cannot intervene.

What are the solutions to the water crisis in India?

Good water management practices :

• India receives adequate annual rainfall through the south-west monsoon. However, most regions of the country are still water deficient mainly because of inefficient water management practices.
• Rainwater harvesting should be encouraged on a large scale, especially, in cities where the surface runoff of rainwater is very high.
• Roof-top rainwater harvesting can also be utilised to recharge groundwater by digging percolation pits around the house and filling it with gravel.
• Indian cities need to learn from Cape Town of South Africa which when faced with the water crisis in 2018 had announced “ Day Zero “. During that day, water-taps in the city turned off = people had to use communal water-taps to conserve water. Restrictions on water use per person were also fixed.
• Since water is a state subject in India state governments should take active measures and create awareness for the minimal use of water.

Interlinking of rivers :

• Interlinking of rivers is a topic that has been discussed and debated for several years as a possible permanent solution to the water crisis in the country.
• The 3 primary advantages mentioned in favour of the scheme are (1) droughts will never occur (2) there will be no more floods in the major rivers and (3) an additional 30,000 MW of hydropower will be generated.

Coordination in aquifer usage: There is an urgent need for coordination among users for aquifers. There should be laws and contracts for sharing of aquifers. Groundwater aquifer mapping has started only recently in India which is a welcome step.

River basin authority: There should be a River Basin Authority for sharing information among states since most of the rivers in India pass through different states.

Coordinated efforts among states for management of groundwater at a localized level.

Community-level management: At the village level, there can be decentralized management of water at the community level.

Charging money for efficient use of water (like electricity). For example- Water ATMs at Marathwada provide water @25 paisa per litre a day.

Good Cultivation practices:

• Changing the cropping pattern, crop diversification and encouraging water use efficiency in agriculture by moving towards food crops from cash crops.
• Innovative farming practices like precision farming , zero budget natural farming , etc. could be employed for efficient water utilisation.

Incentive-based water conservation in rural parts of the water-stressed regions is another solution.

• For example, if a particular level of groundwater level is maintained, higher MSP can be provided to the farmers of that region.
• MSP can also be provided based on crop’s water usage = Crops that consume a high amount of water will get less MSP.

Way forward

India is not a water deficit country, but due to severe neglect and lack of monitoring of water resource development projects, many regions in the country face water stress from time to time. Therefore balancing water demand with available supply is the need of the hour for future economic growth and development as well as for the sustenance of human life.

New National Water Policy (NWP)

In November 2019, the Ministry of Jal Shakti had set up a committee to draft the new National Water Policy (NWP). This was the first time that the government asked a committee of independent experts to draft the policy.

Highlights of NWP

1) demand-side: diversification of public procurement operations.

• Irrigation utilizes 80-90% of India’s water , most of which is used by rice, wheat, and sugarcane.
• Therefore, crop diversification is the single most crucial step in addressing India’s water crisis.
• The policy recommends diversifying public procurement operations to include Nutri-cereals, pulses, and oilseeds.
• This would incentivize farmers to diversify their cropping patterns, resulting in huge savings of water.

2) Reduce-Recycle-Reuse

• Reduce-Recycle-Reuse has been suggested as the basic mantra of integrated urban water supply and wastewater management, with the treatment of sewage and eco-restoration of urban river stretches, as far as possible via decentralised wastewater management.
• All non-potable use like flushing, fire protection, vehicle washing should mandatorily shift to treated wastewater.

3) Supply-side measure: Using technology to use stored water in dams

• Within supply-side options, the NWP points to trillions of litres stored in big dams, that are still not reaching farmers.
• NWP recommends how the irrigated areas could be considerably expanded at very low cost by using pressurised closed conveyance pipelines, in addition to Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA)  systems and pressurised micro-irrigation.

4) Supply of water through “nature-based solutions”

• The NWP places major importance on the supply of water via “nature-based solutions” like the rejuvenation of catchment areas, to be incentivised through compensation for ecosystem services.
• Specially curated “blue-green infrastructure” like rain gardens and bio-swales, restored rivers with wet meadows, wetlands constructed for bio-remediation, urban parks, permeable pavements, green roofs etc are suggested for urban areas.

5) Sustainable and equitable management of groundwater

• Information on  aquifer boundaries , water storage capacities and flows provided in a user-friendly manner to stakeholders, assigned as custodians of their aquifers, would allow them to create protocols for effective management of groundwater.

6) Rights of Rivers

• The NWP accords river protection and revitalisation prior and primary importance.
• Steps to restore river flows include: Re-vegetation of catchments, regulation of groundwater extraction, river-bed pumping and mining of sand and boulders.
• The NWP outlines a process to draft a  Rights of Rivers Act,  including their right to flow, to meander and to meet the sea.

7) Emphasis on water quality

• The new NWP considers water quality as the most serious un-addressed issue in India today.
• It proposes that every water ministry, at the Centre and states,  include a water quality department.
• The policy advocates adoption of state-of-the-art, low-cost, low-energy, eco-sensitive  technologies for sewage treatment.
• Widespread use of  reverse osmosis has led to huge water wastage  and adverse impact on water quality.
• The policy wants  RO units to be discouraged  if the total dissolved solids count in water is less than 500mg/L.
• It suggests a  task force on emerging water contaminants  to better understand and tackle the threats they are likely to pose.

8) Reforming governance of water

• The policy makes radical proposals for improving the governance of water, which suffers from three kinds of issues: That between irrigation and drinking water, surface and groundwater, as also water and wastewater.
• Government departments, working in silos, have generally dealt with just one side of these binaries.
• Dealing with drinking water and irrigation in silos has meant that aquifers providing assured sources of drinking water dry up because the same aquifers are used for irrigation, which consumes much more water.
• And when  water and wastewater are separated in planning,  the result is a fall in water quality.

9) Creation of National Water Commission

• The NWP also suggests the creation of a unified multi-disciplinary, multi-stakeholder National Water Commission (NWC), which would become an exemplar for states to follow.
• Governments should build enduring  partnerships with primary stakeholders of water , who must become an integral part of the NWC and its counterparts in the states.

How Gujarat transformed from Water-deficit state to surplus state?

• The Gujarat government created the state-level Bhaskaracharya Institute for Space Applications and Geoinformatics (BISAG) to aid in the supply of services and solutions for the deployment of map-based GeoSpatial Information Systems.
• Micro-level check dams.
• Macro-level projects particularly in the Saurashtra, Kutch, and North Gujarat areas.
• Gujarat launched the Kutch branch canal from the Narmada Main canal, which helps provide water to the most distant parts.
• Sujalam Sufalam Yojana: to irrigate the areas of North Gujarat.
• The SAUNI Yojana (Saurashtra Narmada Avtaran Irrigation Yojana), which means literally “reincarnation of the Narmada River in the region,” was thus introduced.
• Administrative and Governance reforms.

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Excellent essay indeed!

Great explanation.

worth a praise! well done :)

Wish you could mention the references for all the statistics and facts.

Please add features to include this article in PDF.

Where are effects🙄

Haven’t you seen the impacts heading in this article?

Great explanation and essay. This is exactly what I have been searching for.

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