Covid-19 lockdown, institutional responsiveness, and household well-being: evidence from India

The countrywide lockdown has been the dominant strategy of the Indian government to arrest the rise of the Covid-19 pandemic. While the state and central governments should be focusing on formulating broad policies, the local government (Panchayats) must be used to help as outposts of both tracking the spread of the pandemic as well as designing mechanisms and strategies to cope with the economic fallout of the pandemic. The universal spread of Covid-19 and its after-effects provides a unique opportunity to explore the ability of Panchayats to be able to put in place adequate mechanisms to cope with the spread of the pandemic and its economic fallout. This research will investigate the extent to which variations in institutional responsiveness to Covid-19 has influenced the well-being of rural households. The set of household outcomes include food security and expenditures, dietary diversity, nutrition, health status, and welfare-prospects as perceived by families in the post lockdown phase.