“80 percent of the small and marginal farmers said that their income is reduced after Covid-19 outbreak”, says to the rapid research conducted by Caritas India in 18 different states of India. In an online meeting on 06 June 2020, Caritas India shared its two rapid research findings conducted on migrants and small and marginal farmers during COVID -19.
The meeting was attended by President of Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, Presidents of Regional Bishops Council and Forum Directors across India. Caritas India took the opportunity to also present the consolidation of the regional meeting discussions on COVID-19 response and the data collection format with the participants.
The pandemic has created an unprecedented situation which has impacted every section of the society, but the migrants and small farmer communities had to pay a lot in this crisis. Livelihood loss was not only seen in the urban areas, but the rural areas also suffered its impact during this lockdown. It has created serious implications on the lives and livelihood of the people.
“Caritas India, the social development arm of Catholic Church in India has been proactively reaching out to the most marginalised and, in this regard, organised several webinars with faith leaders, interfaith leaders, experts from varied discipline to understand and plan the action”, shared Fr. Paul Moonjely, Executive Director. He also informed that collectively the Catholic Church has reached out to over 1.1 crore people in this COVID-19 with different types of support.