“The value of the emergency cash transfer worked out to less than $5 per month, which was grossly inadequate,” Satendra Singh, disability activist, told
IndiaSpend. “It should have been $1.9 per day, as per the International Labour Organization recommendation, or Rs 5,000 per month. Further, [the eligibility meant] only 8% of working-age adults with disabilities [were covered].”
In its Covid-19 response, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific
urged countries to cover the “missing middle” – a group whose income often disqualifies its members from poverty-targeted schemes in which they do not have to contribute.
At the same time, many do not participate in contributory schemes (such as the