On 24 March 2020, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an unprecedented 21-day nationwide lockdown to combat the spread of COVID-19, affecting 1.3 billion people.
As the world's second-most populous country faced a mounting health crisis, the strict measures aimed to curb infections but also triggered mass migrations of stranded workers and economic disruptions.
The lockdown marked one of the most drastic containment efforts globally, shaping India’s response to the pandemic and highlighting the challenges of enforcing restrictions in such a vast and diverse nation.
