Unfreezing unspent social special-purpose funds for the Covid-19 crisis: Critical reflections from India

Deval Desai and Shalini Randeria

World Development, 2020, vol. 136, issue C

Abstract: In India, the government launched a US$22.6 billion financial support package for the poor and marginalized as a result of Covid-19. Approximately US$ 4.2 billion (INR 310 billion) came from a vast pile of unspent social special-purpose funds. How and why did such a large volume of funds accumulate in the first place, and why did it take a public health emergency to release them? What might be the consequences of their use under such emergency conditions – especially for our understanding of governance and accountability in social welfare provision?

Keywords: Social funds; Fiscal sociology; Administrative law; India; Governance; Covid-19 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:136:y:2020:i:c:s0305750x20302655

DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105138

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