DISTRESS SIGNALS

Dali Rani Das, 48, works as a cook in South Delhi. Before the pandemic, she and her husband together earned about Rs 30,000 a month, enough to rent a small room in Chirag Delhi and pay for their son’s college education. She was, in fact, saving up to buy a laptop for her son. Now, the family’s income has nearly halved. Her husband, who drove a school bus, has been without pay for over a year. Although they have been receiving subsidised food rations, Das says paying rent and meeting basic expenses has been difficult.

Das is one of millions of Indians facing severe economic hardship, including job losses and shrunken incomes, because of the pandemic. Many believe the government is also to blame—since