India's COVID-19 social assistance package and its impact on the agriculture sector

Varshney, Deepak; Kumar, Anjani; Mishra, Ashok K.; Rashid, Shahidur; and Joshi, Pramod K. 2021. India's COVID-19 social assistance package and its impact on the agriculture sector. Agricultural Systems 189(April 2021): 103049. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2021.103049

COVID-19 induced significant economic and social disruptions in India. Rural households, including smallholders, were affected by loss in migrant income, livelihood and farm and non-farm incomes. During this lockdown, the Indian government enacted several emergency legislations to provide direct and indirect relief to workers and households. India's COVID-19 social assistance package, namely, PM-GKY, announced in March 2020, was designed to provide immediate relief to the vulnerable population. The PM-GKY provided cash direct benefit transfers (DBT) and in-kind supports (IKS) through existing schemes.