The nationwide coronavirus lockdown had led to over 80% of Indians witnessing a dip in their earnings, a news report by HT’s Hindi language publication Live Hindustan suggests. The findings were revealed in a survey conducted by the Center for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) in 27 states.

Researchers have found that livelihood in rural areas of the country has had the worst effect, although the spread of coronavirus in these areas is quite low. The survey, which was conducted in April, included around 5800 families across the country. The data from the survey was analyzed by Marianne Bertrand, professor of economics at the University of Chicago and CMIE chief economist Kaushik Krishnan.

The survey showed that the worst impact of the lockdown has been borne by five states, including Tripura in the North-east and the north Indian states of Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Haryana.

34% of the families that were surveyed said that they would not be able to live even a week without additional financial help. The survey has seen a decrease in the income of high-paid people, most of them have permanent jobs and are also able to work from home during the lockdown. In the low-income group, only those associated with agricultural work and catering workers are able to get any work amid the lockdown.

According to data from the CMIE and other institutions, about 10 crore Indians lost their jobs in a month after the lockdown was announced on March 25 in the country. Talking around the world, the income of 1.3 billion people has been affected extensively due to the ongoing lockdown in different countries.

The number of coronavirus cases have breached the 81,000 mark. More than 2,500 people have lost their lives to the deadly contagion which has infected more than 4 million people across the globe. The third phase of the ongoing coronavirus lockdown will come to end on May 18.