Corona: Indian State Ready to Help Millions of Workers and Rickshaw Drivers First

Uttar Pradesh has become the first state in India to announce its intention to provide potentially millions of low-wage workers with online payments were they to be financially affected by the novel coronavirus outbreak.

“We are tabulating the number of vegetable vendors, construction workers, rickshaw pullers, autorickshaw drivers and temporary staff at shops,” says a labor official. “This is a major decision. But we don’t have any data on the workers. The announcement is to make online payments to them, so we need the information such as social security numbers, bank account numbers, of all workers.”

Labor experts add that the federal government should also considering compensating for the costs of industries and small businesses affected by the coronavirus epidemic, to avoid them having to lay off workers.