Paper short abstract:

The whole world is facing the biggest humanitarian crisis after the second World War where every country is facing the devastating impact of coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Although, India has managed well in containing the widespread of the pandemic through nationwide lockdown.

Paper long abstract:

The coronavirus has no frontier and political boundary which has impacted both formal and informal sectors of the economy. Though, informal sectors are worst affected due to absence of any protective cover including social security. The livelihood of handicraft artisans is based on day-to-day working and earning while during pandemic they were not allowed to go outside. The pandemic has created dilemma that the government should emphasise either on saving the country's people from health emergency or saving the economy. Both are equally important to make the nation prosperous. The virus has compelled everyone to stay at home and start working from home, which was impossible for glass beads artisans of Varanasi. The sale of glass beads has declined exponentially as these are export-oriented products and all the countries have closed their borders to contain the spread coronavirus disease. The basic objective of the research study is to identify and analyse the economic and social challenges faced by glass beads artisans during COVID-19 pandemic. A household survey was conducted using purposive sampling in different clusters of glass beads in Varanasi district of Uttar Pradesh, India in 2021. Although, it was the government's first priority to save its citizen and government did well in this regard. Further, it has left no stone unturned to contain the spread of coronavirus, through the lockdown, awareness campaign to make people stay safe and encourage others to get vaccinated at the earliest.