India and World Bank sign $400 mn project to protect poor and vulnerable

On Wednesday, India and the World Bank signed a $400 million project to finance the nation’s efforts to provide social services to impoverished and needy households badly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. This is the second procedure in a two-part programmatic sequence.

The first operation of $750 million was approved in May 2020. The programme will strengthen the capability of state and national governments in India to provide coordinated and adequate social protection to the poor and vulnerable from the shocks triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

This initiative will help further extend and deepen the reach of India’s social security programmes by helping these disadvantaged communities in urban and peri-urban areas around the world. The Agreement was signed by Mohapatra, on behalf of the Government of India, and by Sumila Gulyani, acting Country Director, India, on behalf of the World Bank.

Early findings from the follow-up of the first operation by a representative survey of households across India demonstrate the benefits and challenges of India’s social security scheme. The Second Accelerating India COVID-19 Social Security Response Program signed today will draw on the shifts that the first operation has made.

World Bank Country Director in India Junaid Ahmad said that in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, India is aggressively improving the nation’s social security mechanism. In favour of this process, the first operation of the World Bank followed the government’s lead to a widening of existing disaster response services.

This second operation would supplement the extension of India’s safety net services and establish a compact social welfare network offering food and cash assistance for the vulnerable.

Given the scale and heterogeneity of the continent in India, post-COVID-19 economic shocks are likely to manifest differently at the sub-national, group and household levels. The new operation would provide flexibility for state governments to meet their contexts while ensuring that the needs of refugees, informal workers and urban poor are met.

The new amendments would encourage Member States to receive flexible financing from emergency relief funds to design and introduce effective initiatives.

The software was prepared in cooperation with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Agence Francaise de Développement (AFD) and Kreditanstalt Fur Wiederaufbau (KfW). The $400 million loan comes from the International Development Association (IDA) – the concessionary lending arm of the World Bank.