New Delhi: The World Bank on Wednesday said that it has approved a $ 500 million loan program (around Rs 3,717.28 Crore) to support the Indian informal working class to overcome the current pandemic pressure.
This loan will create a greater flexibility for the state to overcome ongoing pandemics, the future climate and disaster shock, the World Bank said in a statement.
From the $ 500 million commitment, $ 112.50 million will be funded by the International Development Association of Concession Loan Arms and $ 387.50 million will be a loan from international banks for reconstruction and development (IBRD).
This loan has a period of 18.5 years including a five-year grace period.
The World Bank said the total funds to strengthen Indian social protection programs to help poor and vulnerable households since the commencement of Pandemia reached $ 1.65 billion (around Rs 12,264,54 Crore).
The first two operations approved last year provided a cash transfer of emergency assistance directly to around 320 million individual bank accounts identified through existing national social protection schemes and additional food rations for around 800 million (80 crore) said, the World Bank said.
Countries can now access flexible funds from disaster response funds to design and implement appropriate social protection responses.
The funds will be used in social protection programs for urban informal workers, gig workers, and migrants, he said.
“In the context in which countries are increasingly facing the cycle of economic, pandemic, and climate surprises, investment in social protection aims to build economic resilience and community livelihood.
This is a broader goal of the social protection program supported by the world.
Bank in India, “said Junaid Ahmad, said the World Bank State Director in India.
The national digital urban mission will create a shared digital infrastructure for people living in urban areas through investment at the city level to help improve urban safety nets and social insurance for informal workers.
It will also include gender-bargaining information about women’s workers and women-headed households.
This will allow policy makers to overcome gender-based service delivery gaps and effectively reach unreached, especially widows, teenage girls, and tribal women.
Street vendors are an integral part of Indian urban informal economy.
This program will provide access to the working vendor to an affordable working capital loan of up to rs 10,000.
Urban local agencies (ULB) will identify them through IT-based IT platforms, the World Bank said.
About five million urban city vendors can benefit from a new credit program, he added.
“Operations will improve the state’s ability to use resources based on local risk assessment and expand the social protection nets for less underserved urban informal workers while laying the foundation for a more responsive social protection system,” said Qaiser Khan, lead economists and Shrayana Bhattacharya, economist protection Senior social and world bank task leader for this operation.