For several states, the lockdown has come at a huge cost.
A FIRST: For the first time in several years, the Gujarat government has had to borrow money from financial institutions, as it has run out of funds due to the Covid-19 outbreak. The state borrowed Rs 2,100 crore at 7.5% a year interest in the first week of this month. Gujarat needs about Rs 3,150 crore every month to pay salaries to its 5 lakh employees and another Rs 1,500 crore to pay pensions and is expected to borrow more to make the payments.
The state has about 34,081 factories employing over 17 lakh workers in different segments and most are currently under lockdown. As per the official record of the labour & employment department, there are over 1.5 crore unorganized workers which includes agriculture workers. Also, there are 38 lakh organized sector workers in the state and most of them have got affected due to the lockdown.
If key sources in the state’s finance and statistical department are to be believed, the state’s total gross state domestic pr
