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We surveyed 47,000 low income Indian households to understand socioeconomic impacts of #COVID19 & efficacy of Govt transfers. The results are confronting & point to the lived experience of 800m residents. Find detailed data on http://impactsofcovid.in . Some highlights in thread
Within a month of the lock-down, average incomes had declined by over 50%. Households turned to debt.
Govt entitlements kicked in for poor families with announcement of additional transfers of rations and cash. Coverage of these schemes has grown (especially high in the case of PDS) but a sizeable minority is still left out of being covered by any central scheme
The good news is that entitlements did begin to flow. Grains reached 90% of eligible households by end of May. Pulses have been slower. Importantly, 10% of households still missed out.
Cash transfers also began hitting accounts from April onwards. By end of May, 80% had received at least one transfer (average total cash transfer was ~Rs 1000 per month). But actually being able to withdraw and use that money proved to be a challenge, given lockdown.
Entitlements helped but a lot more needs to be done. Families will need cash support in addition to the continued free rations announced by the Government till end November.
Get access to our data including State breakdowns and changes in entitlement received over time. http://impactsofcovid.in . Our dashboard allows you to construct your own enquiry. For data nerds, many of your technical questions can also be answered here.
Too many people to thank in putting together such a massive dataset and analysis. But wanted to acknowledge that 47,000 households took time out during a very stressful period in their lives to answer our questions. We hope the data is used to benefit them https://www.google.com/amp/s/indianexpress.com/article/explained/india-coronavirus-relief-digitisation-welfare-schemes-6503017/lite/
Finally, this data can support multiple slants, from ‘a benefits system that is working at scale & speed’ to ‘a system overwhelmed with people slipping through the cracks’. Our own take: some things are working, some things not, everything can & should be better. Feedback welcome
