IMF working paper is authored by the authors reported that the people living in extreme poverty – being counted as 1 % – remained steady even during nationwide lockdowns, majorly residing on state-provided packages of food handouts. The reports have surfaced when there have been multiple pieces of evidence pointing to the widening gap between rich and poor in the South Asian country, majorly because of the COVID-19 outbreak.
The paper was published on April 5, 2022, suggested “Our results also demonstrate the social safety net provided by the expansion of India’s food subsidy program absorbed a major part of the pandemic shock.”
TOPICS:
IMF