Urban exclusion: Rethinking social protection in India in the wake of Covid-19

Pallavi Choudhuri Sonalde Desai Santanu Pramanik

Economic insecurity caused by lockdowns during the early days of Covid-19 forced many households to rely on government welfare schemes to fulfil their consumption needs. Using data from the June 2020 round of the Delhi NCR Coronavirus Telephone Survey, this article shows that few households received both foodgrains and cash transfers, particularly in urban areas, and urban residents were also eight percentage points less likely to receive cash transfers vis-à-vis their rural counterparts.

Human Development