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Delaysinwage payments are one of the most pressing issuesfaced byworkers. Various governments have paid much attention in the last decade on the technological aspects of the digital payments architecture through the paradigm of Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT). Through DBT the government directly transfers money toworkers' bank accounts. In comparison, systematic evaluations of the challengesfaced byworkers once theirwages are credited to their bank/postal accounts hasreceived scant attention. The hurdlesthat workersface in accessing theirwages after they have been credited iswhat isreferred to as'last mile challenges.' To assesssome last mile challenges, LibTech India conducted a survey of1947NREGAworkersin 3 states. The surveywas done in one block each of Andhra Pradesh (AP) and Rajasthan (RJ) and 2 blocks of Jharkhand (JH). The number of respondentswere similar acrossthe three states; AP - 667, JH- 622 and RJ - 658. Thissurvey has been supported by the Research Centre at Azim Premji University, Bangalore.

This report documents the impact of one year of Covid-19 in India, on jobs, incomes, inequality, and poverty. It also examines the effectiveness of policy measures that have thus far been undertaken to offer relief and support. Finally, it offers some policy suggestions for the near and medium-term future.When the pandemic hit, the Indian economy was already in the most prolonged slowdown in recent decades. On top of this, there were legacy problems such as a slow rate of job creation and lack of political commitment to improving working conditions which trapped a large section of the workforce without access to any employment security or social protection.Our analysis shows that the pandemic has further increased informality and led to a severe decline in earnings for the majority of workers resulting in a sudden increase in poverty. Women and younger workers have been disproportionately affected. Households have coped by reducing food intake, borrowing, and selling assets. Government relief has helped avoid the most severe forms of distress, but the reach of support measures is incomplete, leaving out some of the most vulnerable workers and households. We find that additional government support is urgently needed now for two reasons - compensating for the losses sustained during the first year and anticipating the impact of the second wave.