COVID-19: 78% of cardholders in rural Bihar received less than the assured 5 kg free ration, says a joint study

91% received less than one 1 kg of free pulses, it said.

The impact of the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic in rural Bihar households was “pervasive and severe with many households receiving only a fraction of the promised support at a time when the existing safety nets were also compromised to a lesser or greater extent”, a study has said. “78% of ration cardholders received less that the announced 5 kg of free rice or wheat per person per month; 91% received less than 1 kg of free pulses per person per month. Similarly 52% of households were not eligible for free cooking gas cylinders for three months under the Prime Minister Ujjawala Yojna and 31% of households had no women Jan Dhan accounts to receive cash transfers,” it said. The study was jointly conducted by the Centre for Development Economics and Sustainability (CDES, Monash University, Australia) and the Institute for Human Development (IHD, New Delhi) to document how the first wave of the pandemic affected people’s lives and livelihoods in seven districts of rural Bihar.