‘Lockdown hit more workers from lower castes’

MUMBAI: The lockdown affected the employment prospects of workers from lower castes more unfavourably than those from upper castes, according to a study commissioned by Ashoka University, Haryana.

Released on Friday, the paper, titled “Is COVID-19 ‘The Great Leveller’? The Critical Role of Social Identity in Lockdowninduced Job Losses”, analyses the drop in employment for workers from communities ranked low in the caste hierarchy – scheduled castes (SC), scheduled tribes (ST), and other backward castes (OBC). The study uses data of skilled and unskilled labour from across India, gathered by the independent think tank, Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy. The researchers found that compared to workers from upper castes, the probability of job loss was three times higher for those who are SC and two times higher for OBC workers.

“We tried to understand the effect of the pandemic on the job situation of lower caste workers in relation to upper caste workers. We compared employment data collected over December 2018 and April 2020,” said Ashwini Deshpande, professor of economics, Ashoka University, who co-authored the study with Rajesh Ramachandran from the department of microeconomics and management, at Germany’s Goethe University.

The proportion of employed persons in all caste groups remained fairly stable from August 2018 to December 2019. But between December 2019 and April 2020, there was a steep fall in employment of all caste groups, indicating that the lockdown had affected employment of workers across all castes, but in varying degrees. In December 2019, 39% of upper caste workers were employed and by April 2020, the percentage dropped to 32%. The fall was more pronounced for SC workers, 44% of whom were employed in December 2019, but only 24% were employed in April

2020. For OBCS and STS the fall was from 40% to 26% and 48% to 33%, respectively.

Ajit Ranade, city-based economist and political analyst, who was not a part of the study, said the findings were important as they show the impact of the pandemic through the lens of caste. “Not only has the pandemic exposed pre-existing inequities, but it has amplified them. Hence relief measures have to pay extra attention and compensate for this unequal impact across caste divisions,” said Ranade.

The study also found education was a key element in job security. “The share of individuals with more than 12 years of schooling is 37% for upper castes and 17% for SCS. It shows stigmatised caste groups are also disproportionately more likely to hold daily wage jobs, which provide no job security,” said the paper.