The Covid‐19 pandemic has forced restructuring in several sectors to ensure the delivery of services are accomplished to the greatest possible extent. The Indian Government has imposed rigorous lockdown regulations, which has had an impact on all aspects of the economy and promotes the adoption of digital technology. The lockdown has accelerated adherence to online platforms for effective accessibility of the teaching and learning process without compromising on quality. Democratisation of technology has been a significant critical issue of the hour. In the closures since March 16, 2020 ‒ from nursery school to university level ‒ all scheduled examinations during this period were postponed. The teachers and students are in a dilemma with regard to current academic sessions and with upcoming semester examinations. The Covid‐19 pandemic gave momentum to the digital teaching‐learning mode with a transformation from chalkboards to Google Meet, Zoom and WebEx, etc. The study is based on primary data of 750 respondents in West Bengal, India, which includes teachers and students from school to university level. The effectiveness, accessibility and quality of this virtual mode of education have been investigated with the application of the Friedman test, and Wilcoxon signed‐rank test and effect sizes. The present study is an attempt to assess and understand the impact of Covid‐19 on the teaching and learning process in developing countries. The study reveals that students from school to university level are significantly affected by the novel digital teaching and learning modes resorted to during this pandemic crisis.

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The sudden outbreak of COVID‐19‐driven pandemic has ravaged the economy of the world in the form of toll on health and loss of employment. The unprecedented devastation has left the economies in a nose‐diven state, with job losses for paid employees and self‐employed and labor market disruption in the nature of reduced earnings and working hours, compounded through prolonged closure of different ongoing projects, which restricted mobility, reduced manpower in order to contain the deadly pandemic. Witnesses of layoffs, retrenchment, pay cuts, delayed promotions with increments are quite apparent adverse outcomes of the crisis. According to a survey by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, the rate of unemployment has been amplified to 24% in mid‐May 2020. The monstrous pandemic has wreaked havoc on the job landscape of the nation resulting in economic contraction and shrinking job opportunities wrapped with a sense of fear and uncertainty is palpable among professionals. The present study is an endeavor to quantify the actual impact of COVID‐19 pandemic on the private sector employees of West Bengal, India. With sample respondents of 681, the study reveals that a significant segment of employees are severely challenged by the life‐threatening virus especially the employees absorbed in private commercial establishments or factories where the sector of employment, nature of industry, or job profile denies the concept of “work from home.” The global outbreak has changed the job market almost overnight and seems to have long‐lasting, game‐changing ramifications with a number of sectors experiencing massive hit where jobs will be savagely cut.

Improved access to credit influences socio-economic growth. Accordingly, financial support schemes have been used widely as a development tool to help underserved individuals grow and elevate themselves out of poverty. Uplifting women, who are subject to unfair treatment because of gender biases, have been a major target of these programs. Therefore, the present study examines one such government microcredit scheme, the Mudra Yojana, which supports individuals financially to start an enterprise or expand the existing one by providing collateral-free loans. Further, it encourages female participants by charging lower interest rates. The present study, based on 417 female beneficiaries from the tribal districts of West Bengal, India, investigates how financial support has benefitted women in their socio-economic growth. It evaluates the scheme’s effect based on women’s employability and empowerment level. To analyze the data, the study employs ordered logistic regression, Wilcoxon Sign test, effect size, etc. The results suggest micro-credit through Mudra Yojana encourages female entrepreneurship, raises earnings and employability, and thereby empowers them financially, socially, psychologically and in the political arena. The findings of these studies reinforce the fact women could be “active agents of change” and play an important role in both the family and society.