Economic effect of the covid-19 pandemic on rural and urban community

Abstract

COVID-19 has enormously impacted the economic life of the people. The study’s objective was to investigate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the financial aspects of the rural and urban community in the Banaskantha district “during and post-lockdown. The study sample consisted of 200 respondents randomly selected from ten rural and ten urban areas in the Banaskantha district. An interview schedule was developed to collect primary data from respondents. The result showed that economically rural respondents were moderately affected during the lockdown but highly affected post-lockdown. In comparison, urban respondents’ social and economic aspects were extremely affected during the lockdown and moderately affected post-lockdown. A significant difference between lockdown and post-lockdown for social and economic effects was found due to the COVID-19 pandemic between rural and urban respondents. Overall, it can be concluded that COVID-19 adversely affected the economic aspects of rural and urban communities during and post-lockdown. Thus, better management by the government against the COVID-19 pandemic is essential to mitigate the financial crisis.