IMPRI Team
In continuation with the ongoing discussions on the Rural Realities around the country, the Centre for Habitat, Urban and Regional Studies (CHURS), IMPRI Impact and Policy Research Institute, New Delhi and International Institute of Migration and Development (IIMAD), Kerala organized a Panel Discussion on “Rural Realities |Kerala | Practitioners’ Experiences in Tackling the Second Wave in Indian Villages” on May 20, 2021, as the second wave of coronavirus pandemic is engulfing the length and breadth of our country, India, and hitting the heartland of our country which is the rural areas.
The IMPRI team informed the discussion by locating for the event participants the situation of COVID 19 in India and Kerala. The team also provided an insight into the geography and Socio economic conditions of the state. The rationale was to provide the participants with an overview of the state of Kerala.
Saving Lives and Livelihood during the Pandemic
Moderator of the webinar, Prof Irudaya Rajan, Chairman, International Institute of Migration and Development (IIMAD), Kerala said that Kerala needs to learn lessons from the first wave thereby replicating and reorganizing current existing policies. He said the way COVID was tackled in the first wave was one of the best model to tackle the pandemic scenario.
He further added that in the first wave we talked between lives and livelihoods with migrant issues being the major one along with livelihoods while in the second wave everything moved to lives whereas migrant issues and livelihoods were pushed back and saving lives became the priority.
Pertinent Questions
Responding to a question on impact of pandemic on tourism sector and Kerala’s economy Prof Rajan said that tourism sector has more number of internal migrants working in Kerala, hence the issue of internal migrants needs to be relooked at carefully by compiling a database for internal migrants.
