A Crisis like No Other: Gendered Burdens and Caste Dynamics of Debt and Food Insecurity during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Tamil Nadu
Résumé
his report is part of a larger research project (https://www.debt-
climate-health.org) funded by UK Research and Innovation’s Global
Challenges Research Fund entitled ‘Depleted by Debt? Focusing a
gendered lens on climate resilience, credit and nutrition in Cambodia
and South India.’ This India-focused report shows how the COVID-19
crisis manifested in Tamil Nadu as one of debt distress and food
insecurity. These overlapping issues are disproportionately felt and
shouldered by women, Dalits and the landless. A second India-focused
report evidences how the microfinance industry and related policies
have contributed to rather than mitigated this debt crisis in pandemic
times. Together the reports offer new and compelling data on the
multiple ways in which development and social policies can reinforce
rather than reduce inequalities, especially in times of crises.