INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
K Subramanian has said that Covid pandemic has impacted employment in IndiaChief Economic Adviser K Subramanian on Wednesday said that the
economic fortune of the country is linked directly to the ongoing pandemic and the resultant restrictions imposed to curb its spread have
impacted employment in India, like it has affected all the countries across the world.Speaking to TheIndianSubcontinent, Mr Subramanian said
that the government is trying to spend more on key sectors like construction, as it helps in employment generation.Responding to a range of
questions, the chief economic adviser while replying to a query on whether the economy can face the impact of a possible third wave of the
movement of people) do have their impact
The world over there has been an impact on employment generation and India is not an exception
Therefore, the government has taken steps, especially on capital spending on construction and that is why it increased by 15 per cent in the
fourth quarter of 2020-21
redeeming feature is that impact of the second wave has not been felt as much as the first wave, as countries have learnt to live with the
The second thing is the pace of vaccination itself
Evidence suggests that even the first dose itself seems to matter a lot in providing protection
Apart from a few exceptions where people have been infected despite taking both the doses, on an aggregate, the vaccination has provided
after the first quarter decline (of 2020-21) we had predicted that economy should recover and it did recover in the third and the fourth
days) has been steep and once the second wave eases, we expect that economic activities will come back
one year we have seen that MGNREGA demand was significant
But in May this year however, the demand in it was not as high as last year
achieved in Indi was 40 lakhs a day
One crore per day is two and a half times more than that
If we do it possibly on a 24x7 basis, then it is possible to vaccinate one crore persons a day and that's the target we should be aiming
that additional funds will be given for additional doses.Fear of the pandemic had reduced last year when the number of positive cases had
come down significantly and similarly it should happen this year too as greater vaccination will help open the economy, Mr Subramanian
observed.Responding to a point that if there is a variety of choices available in terms of vaccines, then it will create an opportunity to
Once the fear of the pandemic got reduced after first wave, economic activities had picked up
Whatever we can do to vaccinate more people, the cost of that will not be as high compared to the benefit which we will get from the
the chief economic adviser did not reveal an actual figure but said that it would depend on how the vaccination programme will pan out.As
both public as well as private sectors along with the states are participating in the vaccination programme, therefore the actual cost is
not known as of now, Mr Subramanian informed.On being specifically asked about the cost if only Centre's participation in the vaccination
