Amid the COVID-19 lockdown, about 67% of India’s vulnerable population lost their jobs, and there was a 63% dip in earnings, revealed a survey. 74% has started eating less than before to cut costs, and 61% households did not have enough money to buy a week’s ration, News18 reported.

The survey was conducted from April 13 to May 9 by Azim Premji University’s Centre for Sustainable Development (CSE). It included 3,970 people in urban and rural pockets in 12 states, carried through civil society organizations.

‘Given the circumstances, it was desirable that we speak to the bottom run, the most vulnerable sections, and we wanted to know what was happening with these people. These were identified through these civil society organisations that we worked with,’ D. Rosa Abraham, Research Fellow at the CSE said.

The survey focused on three broad areas – impact on their work/employment, impact on their households and access to government relief.

‘Health is a medium-term impact. Most of them (those who were surveyed) reported they can’t afford to buy beyond a week’s worth of food- food intake is definitely compromised; they have reported they reduced the quantity of meals. In the medium and long-term, this will have a nutritional impact and girls will be first impacted, this is something that is worrying,’ Abraham added.

A significant number of households – 43% in urban and 34% in rural areas – had to take loans for essential expenses during the lockdown, while as much as 86% in towns and 54% in rural areas reported that they will face a hard time to pay rent next month onward.

Also Read: 27 Million Youth In Age Group Of 20-30 Years Lost Jobs In April: CMIE