The outbreak of the COVID-19 infection in India and subsequent containment measures, especially the lockdowns, have brought the entire economy to a grinding halt. The pandemic and the steps to stop it have exposed vulnerabilities of the poor and marginalised. Most impacted are those working in the informal economy, whose precarious livelihoods have ceased to generate adequate income. The country witnessed a massive movement of people, with migrants taking the hard decision to go back to their villages.

Through this study we reached out to 765 quarantine centres spread across 14 States. The findings are indicative of the scale of the challenges of running these facilities and highlights the need for gender-responsive and child-friendly measures in these centres. Through this study, we evaluated the efficacy of existing provisions as per national and international guidelines. We learnt about aspects that policymakers need to pay attention to improve the functioning of these spaces further.

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