Covid-19 lockdown: Northeast states back to work sooner than others

The eight north-eastern states have reported a faster recovery in terms of people reporting to work.

Workplace visits are between 73-92 per cent of their pre-lockdown normal, compared to just over 60 per cent for India overall, shows data from Google’s Community Mobility Reports. The reports make use of anonymised location data to identify how people are moving during the Covid-19 pandemic. The visits to each category of location is compared to a pre-lockdown normal in January and February. The numbers are released with a lag. The latest data is as of May 29. Business Standard looked at a seven-day rolling average for comparison.

The states had also recorded a less severe fall during the worst of the lockdown. The largest seven-day rolling average drop from normal for the country was close to 65 per cent. This indicated that little more than a third of the usual workplace visits were actually taking place.  Even the state with the steepest drop, Mizoram, had seen a 51.7 per cent drop in workplace visits. Others had lower numbers. Arunachal Pradesh saw a drop of 25.7 per cent. Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland. Sikkim and Tripura were down between 34-52 per cent at their trough.

The recovery has been faster too. Arunachal Pradesh shows only a 10.4 per cent decline in the seven-day rolling average drop from normal workplace visits. Manipur is down 26.6 per cent. Mizoram is down 25.6 per cent. Numbers for other northeast states are lower (see chart).

Many states with larger economies are still struggling to get to work. Maharashtra’s workplace visits are down 56.57 per cent. Delhi is down 54.29 per cent.  The biggest drop for Maharashtra was 74 per cent during the lockdown. It was 81 per cent for Delhi.  

The eight north-eastern states may also have benefitted from a lower number of Covid-19 cases. The eight states together account for 2930 or 1.3 per cent of the around 230,000 cases in the country, according to figures available on Friday evening.

A December 2019 World Bank report had noted the importance of developing the north east economically on the basis of its strengths in agriculture and services.

“Highlighting northeast’s comparative strengths in agriculture and services, the report, Playing to Strengths: A Policy Framework for Mainstreaming Northeast India, emphasizes that (the region) ....can leverage those strengths for higher growth....(there are)...four sectors, among many other promising ones, where new value chains can help boost the region’s export potential, while also creating more and better jobs for the people. These include fruits and vegetables, spices, bamboo and related products, and medical tourism,” it had said.