Unveiling the Sociological Impact of COVID-19 in India

11th June, 2024 - 12:47 pm Categories: Covid 0 Comments

Introduction

The Coronavirus pandemic certainly wreaked havoc at not only the national sphere in India but an international level. It forced the economy to distress, psychology to depression, physical strength to respiratory illnesses backed with all other major diseases, spiritual health to a full stop by shutting down the doors of the temples, et al. It affected from child to adult and economy to health, thus leaving it footprints in all the major reals that play a crucial role in the sustenance of the life.

However, a positive trait, which is oft-mentioned was that it gave us some time when we were packed in our houses during the lockdown to introspect why this is happening and behind that what actions are leading to such a catastrophic situation. When everyone was packed at his/her home during coronavirus pandemic due to the lockdown imposed by the Government of India, nature sustained itself and a plethora of examples such as the decline in pollution, visibility of Himalayan ranges, et al. are evident enough to buttress the claim.

Another positive trait of the Covid-19 was that it gave a push to the cyber world as people shifted immediately to online platforms from offline to keep their work and life on track. However, it also gave birth to a lot of cybersecurity issues and drastically raised the graphs of cyberattacks during the lockdown period as well as after that, which is discussed elaborately with the help of data in this project. The Covid-19 also made the people, residing in poverty, vulnerable as online education became a norm during Covid times and the children unable to afford the smartphones and internet recharges, regardless of electricity availability, et al. were unable to attend such online classes as a result of which they failed to avail their basic right to education. The issue is discussed in the project with the help of data and it is depicted that the digital divide got widened in India not only during the lockdown but was pre-existing among genders, place of residence (urban vs. rural), etc., and underprivileged people hardly have access to any modern technological facilities such as smartphones, internet, et al.

Further, the project also delves into sociological issues, especially suicide and domestic violence. As per the experts, the primary reason(s) behind this huge upsurge in the suicide rates were – as a result of lockdown, people experienced emotional/mental trauma due to prolonged confinement in a ‘hostile’ home environment. Moreover, the problem got aggravated with the lack of communication and interaction with friends and teachers. Although there was an online medium to contact friends and teachers, yet the medium is not that comfortable during the initial days as well as even today meeting someone offline has a major psychological impact than online. Moreover, it is discussed in the project that as per the data, among the persons who committed suicide mostly were students and the reason behind committing such a heinous act is likely to be study-related pressure, apprehensions about attending online classes, lack of facility to attend online classes, the financial crisis in the family, overuse of social media, fear of contagion, parental pressure, domestic violence and substance abuse.

Further, the cases of Domestic Violence were increased due to anxiety and stress. Apart from this, economic stress further aggravated the problem. Research suggests that the repeat victimization of women is seen to be more frequent in cases where the family is under some sort of financial strain. The arguments were also made under the Domestic Violence Section in the project on marital rape(s) and domestic violence against ‘men’ during Covid lockdown in India.

The repercussions of Covid-19 on the mindset and behaviour of the individuals are also discussed and a few suggestions were also laid down so as to cope up with them.

Literature Review

During the lockdown period, the day-to-day activities of individuals certainly came to a halt. Soumitra Pathare, Lakshmi Vijaykumar, et al. (2020) in their study highlighted that for the year 2020,[i] the search identified 27,997 Google hits with 1095 suicide related articles for the relevant lockdown dates in 2020, the search yielded 27,997 Google hits with 1095 suicide-related articles. Through these 1095 pieces from 56 periodicals, 713 articles (relating to the same person who died by suicide or attempted suicide) were eliminated, leaving a total of 382 distinct individual instances, 326 of which were suicide deaths, 43 attempted suicides, and 13 indeterminate cases. Official sources were unable to determine whether the person died by suicide, as a result of a potential case of murder, or as a result of an accident. There were no relevant articles in 16 of the 56 journals published in 2019. From 23,982 search results, 332 articles were found to be relevant. There were 234 unique cases after deleting 98 articles with repeated accounts about the same individual, with 196 cases of suicide, 24 cases of attempted suicide, and 14 undetermined cases of suicide. Cases that were not determined were not included in the analysis.

Shreya Mohanty & Swikruti Mohanty (2021) in their study observed that According to the National Crime Records Bureau’s (NCRB) 2018 Crime in India Report,[ii] a crime against women occurs every 1.7 minutes in India, while a woman is subjected to domestic abuse every 4.4 minutes. The COVID-19 epidemic has exacerbated the situation.[iii] During the lockdown, the National Commission for Women (NCW) saw a 94% rise in complaint cases of women being abused in their houses. As a result of the pandemic, approximately half a billion women in India are at risk. The government has yet to create a clear policy or a thorough COVID action plan to address these challenges.

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Domestic abuse and intimate partner violence have risen as a result of chronic entrapment, family overpopulation, increasing substance use, skewed relationship dynamics, travel constraints, and limited healthcare access, but coercive sexual practices have also risen. With its socio-culturally diversified population, India has been one of the worst-affected countries by the pandemic. Concerns behind “closed doors” are as dangerous as the infection itself, with the rise in reports of gender-based violence on the basis of pre-existing gender inequity and minority stress stated Vasundharaa S. Nair & Debanjan Banerjee (2021).[iv]

In the study, various data has also been utilised such as due to the digital divide among genders in India, the female to male vaccination ratio is worsened from 0.96 at the end-March 2021 to 0.90 at the end-June 2021 Centre for Economic Data & Analysis, (2021).[v]

A study conducted by Pew Research Center (2018) and reported in 2019 stated that merely 24 per cent of the Indians who responded owned a smartphone while 34 per cent in toto have any phone.[vi] Moreover, In October 2020, a survey was conducted by the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) (2020) of 118838 families, which found out that 11 per cent of the families purchased new smartphones since lockdown began to facilitate their child.[vii]

As per the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) Crime in India – 2020 report, cybercrime in India increased 11.8 per cent from 44,735 registered cases in Crime in India – 2019 to 50,035 registered cases in 2020. The crime rate under this category increased from 3.3 in 2019 to 3.7 in 2020.

Moreover, the students were the ones who suffered the most as a result of Covid-19. According to a study published in the Asian Journal of Psychiatry (2020),[viii] over 53% of Indian University students suffer from moderate to extremely severe depression. According to studies conducted by India Today (2021), 74% of Indian students suffer from high to severe stress.

Blessy Elizabeth David & Sanjay Kumar (2020) gathered data on psychological concerns faced by individuals during the lockdown between April 9^th and April 20^th, 2020, with a total of 1,894 replies. The information is useful for determining the extent and severity of psychological suffering experienced by Indians during the COVID-19 crisis. It could also help government authorities and healthcare staff take the necessary steps to ensure that people’s mental health is in good shape.[ix]

Conclusion

Though the Wuhan virus unleashed havoc in every field of life, it is high time to act in the present, plan for the future and leave the sad past behind. There is a plethora of findings, studies and research that showcase the negative impact of Covid-19. In this research work, most of those data and findings were analysed with an objective to study the Mental Concerns, resulting in a rampant increase in the rates of suicides and domestic violence, posed by the Wuhan virus in India. Moreover, the research work also studied the rampant increase in Digital Transformation by analysing the increase in Digital Divide in India and the reason(s) behind the increase in Cyber Crimes.

The psychological concerns posed by Covid-19 are deeply embedded within the mindset of the people, thereby it is the need of the hour to raise awareness and make people stand against the psychological implications that they face. The Government of India has to act as a linchpin in disseminating the awareness and facilitating the victims. This would help in declining the curve of suicide rate and domestic violence crimes that has drastically increased during the pandemic.

For ensuring cybersecurity, the research work has suggested that the government shall promote cyber hygiene and cyber ethics by making it a compulsory subject in the school curriculum, invest more in cyberinfrastructure (i.e., both computer source systems and cyber experts’ manpower) of the nation to buttress cybersecurity, et al. Moreover, adequate steps should also be taken to minimise the digital gap widened by the pandemic.

Author: Kaustubh Kumar, in case of any queries please contact/write back to us via email to chhavi@khuranaandkhurana.com or at  Khurana & Khurana, Advocates and IP Attorney.

[i] Soumitra Pathare, Lakshmi Vijaykumar, et al. (2020).

[ii] National Crime Records Bureau’s (NCRB) 2018 Crime in India Report.

[iii] Shreya Mohanty & Swikruti Mohanty (2021).

[iv] Vasundharaa S. Nair & Debanjan Banerjee (2021).

[v] Centre for Economic Data & Analysis, (2021).

[vi] Pew Research Center (2018).

[vii] Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) (2020).

[viii] Asian Journal of Psychiatry (2020).

[ix] Blessy Elizabeth David & Sanjay Kumar (2020).