The coronavirus and a lockdown aimed at stopping it last year saw millions of people thrown out of jobs in Indian cities and towns and forced back to their villages, and ever higher levels of debt.

According to Reuters, interviews with 75 households in a cluster of eight villages in India's most populous state showed household incomes have slumped nearly 75 per cent on average. Almost two thirds of the households have taken on debt.

The Reuters investigation showed most of these households in the Uttar Pradesh cluster, a combined 518 people, have taken out total debt of 6.12m rupees ($82,250), more than 80pc of which remains unserviced, the householders said.

With no jobs or with bread-winners sick, the cumulative monthly income of the 75 households has dropped to about 220,000 rupees ($2,960) from 815,000 rupees ($10,960) before the pandemic.

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