Tens of millions on the fringes sink into poverty as Covid wrecks India

The government estimates India's gross domestic product shrank 8 per cent in the year ended March, its biggest contraction since 1952

After dipping into his savings to weather India’s snap pandemic lockdown last March, Manoj Kumar was just getting his head above water again earning 600 rupees ($8) a day as a construction worker in the tourist hotspot of Goa.

He’d squirreled away enough for a trip last month to his native village in Bihar some 1,490 miles away for a wedding. He’s still there, stuck in one of the nation’s least developed states, as a fierce second Covid-19 wave triggers the world’s worst health crisis and prevents his return. On a lucky day, he’ll land some odd jobs that fetch