Highlights COVID-19 presents great challenges for virus control and social security in rural areas of developing countries. We examine the role of elected village governments in coordinating state response in Rajasthan, Odisha, and Kerala, India. Urgent needs have galvanized new cross-sectoral and multi-scalar interactions that link state action with local realities. Evidence from Kerala illustrates how long-term support for local governments improves public trust and effectiveness of response. Governance is as important to understanding COVID-19 impacts and recovery as biology, demography, and economy.

The COVID-19 pandemic has uncovered and intensified existing societal inequalities. People on the move and residents of urban slums and informal settlements are among some of the most affected groups in the Global South. Given the current living conditions of migrants, the WHO guidelines on how to prevent COVID-19 (such as handwashing, physical distancing and working from home) are challenging to nearly impossible in informal settlements. We use the case of India to highlight the challenges of migrants and urban slum dwellers during the COVID-19 response, and to provide human rights-based recommendations for immediate action to safeguard these vulnerable populations.

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