India's Employment and Migration Crisis in the wake of COVID-19

In this interview discussion (recorded 13 June, 2020), Dr Aditya Ray, a Research Fellow in Geography at The Open University, speaks to Dr Amit Basole, Associate Professor of Economics at Azeem Premji University in India. They discuss the nationwide survey Dr Basole's team recently conducted on the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on workers, as well as the effectiveness of some of the public relief measures.

The interview addresses key topics relating to:

1. The practical aspects of undertaking the survey among workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in India;
2. The key findings and lessons from the survey on the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on workers and their livelihoods in India;
3. The question of how the COVID-19 pandemic affects mobilities and future aspirations among workers in the Indian economy; and
4. Broader policy recommendations and responses to the crisis of employment- specifically the creation of a national urban employment guarantee scheme (NUEGS) and the associated idea of providing urban basic services (UBS) focussing on smaller urban centres in India.