COVID-19-Related Shocks in Rural India 2020, Rounds 1-3

An effective policy response to the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic requires an enormous range of data to inform the design and response of programs. Public health measures require data on the spread of the disease, beliefs in the population, and capacity of the health system. Relief efforts depend on an understanding of hardships being faced by various segments of the population. Food policy requires measurement of agricultural production and hunger. In such a rapidly evolving pandemic, these data must be collected at a high frequency. Given the unexpected nature of the shock and urgency with which a response was required, Indian policymakers needed to formulate policies affecting India’s 1.4 billion people, without the detailed evidence required to construct effective programs. To help overcome this evidence gap, the World Bank, IDinsight, and the Development Data Lab sought to produce rigorous & responsive data for policymakers across 6 states in India: Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, and Madhya Pradesh.

These surveys cover the following subjects:
1. Agriculture: COVID-19-related changes in price realisation, acreage decisions, input expenditure, access to credit, access to fertilisers, etc.
2. Income and consumption: Changes in wage rates, employment duration, consumption expenditure, prices of essential commodities, status of food security etc.
3. Migration: Rates of in-migration, migrant income and employment status, return migration plans etc.
4. Access to relief: Access to in-kind, cash and workfare relief, quantities of relief received, and constraints on the access to relief.
5. Health: Access to health facilities and rates of foregone healthcare, knowledge of COVID-19 related symptoms and protective behaviours.