Impact of the covid-19 pandemic lockdown on Livelihood, Food Security, and Hygiene practices in Jharkhand, India

The Initiative for Sustainable Energy Policy (ISEP) and Morsel have been engaged in conducting a phone survey in Jharkhand to assess the impact of lockdown on individuals’ livelihood, food security, and hygiene practices. Started in 2020, the phone survey which has a total of 6 rounds, aims to target more than 900 respondents across all 24 districts of Jharkhand. Participants were selected using systematic random sampling from a database maintained by Morsel. The survey included questions related to employment loss by household members, concerns regarding food security, cash flow constraints, hygiene and social distancing practices, and government assistance since lockdown. Initial results depicted that lockdown over the period of last one year has gravely impacted employment and created cash constraints within households, with casual labourers (defined here as hourly or daily wage workers in a non-farm enterprise) being most-affected. Government assistance programs in the state have been effective in reducing the plight caused due to lockdown and unemployment, with the majority of assistance being provided in the form of food grains in the state. Social distancing measures seem to have been effective in the state, with non-essential trips (to places of religious worship, for instance) almost entirely halted. Hygiene practices at the household level are far from ideal, with frequency and timing of handwashing not sufficient to reduce infection.