A missed opportunity: Eco Survey fails to address the problem of employment

The Survey concludes that the lockdown was a critical instrument in flattening the curve and saving lives

The Economic Survey rightly celebrates India’s V-shaped recovery from the stringent lockdown imposed initially. It boasts of India’s success in containing the spread of Covid-19 virus and thereby saving lives. The Survey explains in detail the kind of research that was accessed by the government to decide its strategy. It chose to first hedge against the worst possible scenario and then update the strategy step-by-step, taking into account feedback on the outcomes. In this, lives took precedence over livelihoods because, it explains, lives lost cannot be recovered while livelihoods can. The option was to choose short-term pain for long-term gains.