The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) suggested the government to give the cash allowance to some 65.32 million poor citizens amid the pandemic.
UNDP also advocated for $24.85 per month for the population as it believes that the financial help in an emergency basis to the poor people in such a situation could reduce the rate of coronavirus infection.
The government, however, is carrying out such cash incentive for the country’s five million poor people who got unemployed in the pandemic with the intention to raise the number of beneficiaries.
The UNDP in a report titled ‘Temporary Basic Income: Protecting Poor and Vulnerable People in Developing Countries’ presented on Thursday made the suggestions.
The immediate introduction of a Temporary Basic Income for the world’s poorest people could slow the current surge in COVID-19 cases by enabling nearly three billion people to stay at home, it added.
The report concludes that the measure is feasible and urgently needed, with the pandemic now spreading at a rate of more than 1.5 million new cases per week, particularly in developing countries, where seven out of ten workers make a living through informal sector and cannot earn money if they are at home.
UNDP has carried out assessments on the socio-economic effects of COVID-19 in more than 60 countries in the past few months and the evidence shows that workers who are not under social protection cannot stay at home without an income.
“Unprecedented times call for unprecedented social and economic measures. Introducing a Temporary Basic Income for the world’s poorest people has emerged as one option. This might have seemed impossible just a few months ago,” said UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner.
