Economics

Distress Deepens in Indian Villages, Worsening Economic Pain

Rural India accounts for 45% of GDP, two-thirds of population
Hunger, joblessness rises after migrants left cities

A farmer harvests a wheat field by hand in the Bulandshahr district of Uttar Pradesh, on April 21.Photographer: Prashanth Vishwanathan/Bloomberg

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By Vrishti Beniwal

April 22, 2020 at 9:00 PM UTC

Updated on

April 23, 2020 at 6:36 AM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Binod Prahiya, a migrant laborer in Mumbai, lost his livelihood when Prime Minister Narendra Modi locked India down in March to contain the coronavirus outbreak. He is now stuck in the city, with no money to support his family back in his home village in India’s eastern state of Jharkhand.

More than 1,000 miles away in Latehar, his wife Shanti Devi doesn’t have enough food to feed her four children. She’s managed so far by working as a farm laborer, but even that work isn’t available now as the harvesting season comes to an end.