How the Pandemic has Changed the World's Socio-Economic Conditions: Special Reference to South Asia

The infectious virus first appeared in late December 2019 in Wuhan, China, and this pandemic (COVID-19) quickly spread to other cities in China and over 200 countries worldwide by April 25, 2020 (2020, Chen et al.). This has impacted lives and livelihood all around the world, due to stringent lockdowns and other measures to contain Covid-19, the global economy has faced a serious breakdown. Although its negative effects can be seen worldwide it has impacted the South Asian region differently due to its unique socio, cultural, economic, and political conditions. In terms of health infrastructure, South Asian countries are lagging behind their western counterparts. And the impact of the pandemic was disastrous. Even the best countries in terms of health infrastructure (like Italy) were unable to withstand it and were helpless in the face of this virus, meanwhile, India produced a vaccine named “Covaxin” against Covid-19, again becoming a global leader in vaccine manufacturing. In general, we cannot say that there is a direct correlation between the better facility and low fatality against Covid-19. Another impact was seen on migration and migrants’ livelihood, as a large chunk of the population of South Asia lives outside their homelands for better job opportunities began returning to their homeland. This was not seen only in inter-regional migration but also in intraregional migration but the whole South Asian region cannot be generalized into one due to many reasons as disparities can be seen in terms of geography, economy, political, culture, infrastructure, etc. In this context, this paper examines the impact, risks, and challenges of Covid-19 on key socio-economic sectors including agriculture industries rural and urban settlements, migration and migrants, tourism. And at the end, we will try to find out the best possible way to come out of this crisis