Round 2: NCAER's Delhi NCR Coronavirus Telephone Survey

NCAER hosted Sonalde Desai and Santanu Pramanik from its National Data Innovation Centre to share the early results of Round 2 of its rapid response Delhi NCR Coronavirus Telephone Survey (DCVTS-2) launched on April 23, 2020, and completed on April 26. The discussion was moderated by NCAER Director General, Shekhar Shah. The Round 2 DCVTS builds on DCVTS-1, which was fielded during April 3 to 6, 2020. The DCVTS-1 results were released on April 12, 2020.

Policymakers at the Centre and in the States are grappling with many questions in making difficult decisions between continuing to suppress the virus and restarting economic life. There are dangers on both sides: open too soon and a second-round pandemic could be more costly, open too late and rebuilding the economy will be more costly. After more than a month into India’s lockdown, how are Indian households coping? How is their perception of the risk of infection changing as economic and social hardships deepen for many with every passing lockdown day? How has social distancing changed, if at all? What activities will households resume, or not resume, once the lockdown is lifted? What has been the financial, domestic, and logistical impact of the lockdown and of heightened health fears on households? How differently have farmers, businesses, salaried workers, and daily-wage workers felt these impacts? What has been the experience of households receiving relief from government? How has support for the lockdown changed since early April? Round 2 of the DCVTS answers some of these questions.

Round 2 of the DCVTS interviewed a representative random sample of some 1,885 adults in Delhi NCR comprising 31 rural and urban districts in Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Haryana. The DCVTS will be repeated roughly every three weeks with questions chosen to reflect key issues that seem important for this fast moving pandemic. The webinar was attended by over 110 participants.

NCAER DCVTS Round 2 results and the Press Release is available on this webpage.