It has been observed that the Indian economy, which has been at the forefront of tackling the crisis led by the current pandemic, received setbacks since the onset of the pandemic. Many sectors of the economy, particularly those that relied on, but not limited to, agriculture, manufacturing, transport, services, and real estate were affected disproportionately. As a result, the new employment opportunities were halted, and the existing labour market also did shrink. In particular, the weaker sections in the informal and unorganized sector of the economy lost their main sources of livelihood. The exodus of migrant workers returning to their hometowns in the wake of lockdowns and travelling again to metropolitan cities in the search of jobs in various parts of the country has been a regular sight. The formal credit growth was also subdued during the crisis in addition to the growing NPAs of the economy. Non availability of institutional credit and disruption in the supply chain adversely affected the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector. On the contrary, many households with single bread winners had to rely on borrowings from the informal sources for their survival. The rising food and fuel prices added to the woes of various sections of the society. The public health infrastructure has sustained the peak of the pandemic; however, the public health and education sectors have faced daunting challenges with respect to curbing not only the spread of coronavirus but also other diseases and fulfilling educational attainment of students without digital accessibility and literacy, respectively, which came to standstill in many parts of the country.

Nevertheless, it is also observed that there have been varied responses from various sections and sectors of the economy to address the challenges of the pandemic. While the agriculture and allied activities sector saw decline in income prior to the pandemic, including declining rural wages, it is observed that this sector served as a cushion against the crisis. In addition, the availability of MNREGA scheme and the supply of subsidized food grains have helped the rural economy to sustain and survive in the crisis. While the Indian government announced a fiscal stimulus close to 10 percent of GDP and the Reserve Bank of India made 3 trillion rupees available through the emergency credit guaranteed window (monetary loosening), the resulting impact on various sectors is not fully assessed. The unorganized and informal sector, which is, in large part, out of the social safety net, has shown the resilience to the pandemic-driven crisis through various mechanisms and measures, both public and private. Availability of subsidized and free grain through PDS is one such example of public sector mechanism. Self-help group (SHG) initiatives and the support system created through SHGs is another example of private sector mechanism. These mechanisms and varied responses to those mechanisms solicit deeper enquiry into the elements of resilience to the crisis.