Adequacy of Social Assistance Schemes during the COVID-19 Lockdown Evidence from Delhi Slums

ABSTRACT

Multiple social assistance schemes were launched during the first lockdown to help the poor in India, but not all eligible households took advantage of them. Studying slum households in Delhi to evaluate the efficacy of nine central and state government schemes show that the average gain was only '992 per household for a month. If all eligible households had received benefits, this figure would have been '1,956 per household, making the distribution much fairer. The schemes decreased the indebtedness of households by an average of 12.24%, but this would have been 24% if all eligible households had been covered. © 2021 Economic and Political Weekly. All rights reserved.