Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 73
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Code Context


        trigger_error($message, E_USER_DEPRECATED);

    }
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 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php.'
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deprecationWarning - CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311
Cake\Http\ServerRequest::offsetGet() - CORE/src/Http/ServerRequest.php, line 2421
App\Controller\ArtileDetailController::printArticle() - APP/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line 73
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Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 120
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 94
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Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
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Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
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Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51
Cake\Http\Server::run() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 98

Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 74
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Code Context


        trigger_error($message, E_USER_DEPRECATED);

    }
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 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php.'
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deprecationWarning - CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311
Cake\Http\ServerRequest::offsetGet() - CORE/src/Http/ServerRequest.php, line 2421
App\Controller\ArtileDetailController::printArticle() - APP/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line 74
Cake\Controller\Controller::invokeAction() - CORE/src/Controller/Controller.php, line 610
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 120
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 94
Cake\Http\BaseApplication::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/BaseApplication.php, line 235
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/RoutingMiddleware.php, line 162
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/AssetMiddleware.php, line 88
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51
Cake\Http\Server::run() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 98

Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Code Context
            if (Configure::read('debug')) {

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    <link rel="canonical" href="https://im4change.in/<pre class="cake-error"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr68027f9ff143e-trace').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr68027f9ff143e-trace').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none');"><b>Notice</b> (8)</a>: Undefined variable: urlPrefix [<b>APP/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp</b>, line <b>8</b>]<div id="cakeErr68027f9ff143e-trace" class="cake-stack-trace" style="display: none;"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr68027f9ff143e-code').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr68027f9ff143e-code').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Code</a> <a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr68027f9ff143e-context').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr68027f9ff143e-context').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Context</a><pre id="cakeErr68027f9ff143e-code" class="cake-code-dump" style="display: none;"><code><span style="color: #000000"><span style="color: #0000BB"></span><span style="color: #007700">&lt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">head</span><span style="color: #007700">&gt;
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		&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039; The pandemic is about eyes shut -Rajendran Narayanan&#039;,
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		&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;-The Hindu&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;There is a resonance between Saramago&amp;rsquo;s literary world and the migrant labour distress in contemporary India&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;The novel, Blindness, by Portuguese Nobel Laureate Jos&amp;eacute; Saramago, is strikingly prescient about a sweeping illness. The plot revolves around a mysterious epidemic because of which people suddenly turn blind.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;The thread&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;It starts with a person driving his car who turns blind while waiting at a traffic signal. He pleads to be taken home and a man, on the pretext of helping, takes him home but soon after runs away with his car. The contagion spreads rapidly and all those affected by the epidemic are quarantined in an asylum. The novel follows seven people, who do not have names but only descriptions: the doctor, the doctor&amp;rsquo;s wife, the girl with the dark glasses, etc. Lack of equitable delivery of food, inhospitable and unhygienic living conditions, police brutality and apathy of power structures lead to panic among the blind. They are on the brink of starvation. Seven characters escape the asylum and enter the city where they came from only to find that everybody in the city has become blind. Lacking any support, the country plunges into utter despair before resurrection happens quite magically.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Apart from the obvious connections with the pandemic, there are other, numerous and allegorical ways in which Saramago&amp;rsquo;s world resonates with contemporary India.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Data and worker anonymity&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Consider for example, the case of blindness regarding the number of migrant workers. The government&amp;rsquo;s own data sources are inconsistent and are a massive underestimate. The office of the Chief Labour Commissioner stated that there are 26 lakh migrants while various estimates, including the Economic Survey, put this number above 8 crore people. The anonymity of the workers has been reinforced as governments have not kept records of who they are and where they are working. This lack of accountability has given a free rein to the complex web of contractors and sub-contractors to exert various forms of exploitation. The migrant workers, like the characters in Blindness, have been rendered nameless in this unequal power gambit.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Then, there is the blindness about hunger and deaths. On June 30, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced free food grains for National Food Security Act (NFSA) beneficiaries till November. While it is a welcome move, it yet again excludes those without ration cards. As per estimates of Meghana Mungikar, Jean Dr&amp;egrave;ze, and Reetika Khera, roughly 10 crore eligible beneficiaries continue to be excluded under the NFSA . This is because the central government is still using 2011 Census data and hence underestimates NFSA coverage. Moreover, migrants and many self-employed workers do not have ration cards. At a time when the warehouses of the Food Corporation of India have 2.5 times the buffer stock norms, not universalising rations is inexplicable.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/the-pandemic-is-about-eyes-shut/article32025369.ece?homepage=true&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more.&lt;/p&gt;
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There is a resonance between Saramago&amp;rsquo;s literary world and the migrant labour distress in contemporary India

The novel, Blindness, by Portuguese Nobel Laureate Jos&amp;eacute; Saramago, is strikingly prescient about a sweeping illness. The plot revolves around a mysterious epidemic because...&#039;,
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&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;The novel, Blindness, by Portuguese Nobel Laureate Jos&amp;eacute; Saramago, is strikingly prescient about a sweeping illness. The plot revolves around a mysterious epidemic because of which people suddenly turn blind.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;The thread&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Apart from the obvious connections with the pandemic, there are other, numerous and allegorical ways in which Saramago&amp;rsquo;s world resonates with contemporary India.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Data and worker anonymity&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Consider for example, the case of blindness regarding the number of migrant workers. The government&amp;rsquo;s own data sources are inconsistent and are a massive underestimate. The office of the Chief Labour Commissioner stated that there are 26 lakh migrants while various estimates, including the Economic Survey, put this number above 8 crore people. The anonymity of the workers has been reinforced as governments have not kept records of who they are and where they are working. This lack of accountability has given a free rein to the complex web of contractors and sub-contractors to exert various forms of exploitation. The migrant workers, like the characters in Blindness, have been rendered nameless in this unequal power gambit.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Then, there is the blindness about hunger and deaths. On June 30, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced free food grains for National Food Security Act (NFSA) beneficiaries till November. While it is a welcome move, it yet again excludes those without ration cards. As per estimates of Meghana Mungikar, Jean Dr&amp;egrave;ze, and Reetika Khera, roughly 10 crore eligible beneficiaries continue to be excluded under the NFSA . This is because the central government is still using 2011 Census data and hence underestimates NFSA coverage. Moreover, migrants and many self-employed workers do not have ration cards. At a time when the warehouses of the Food Corporation of India have 2.5 times the buffer stock norms, not universalising rations is inexplicable.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/the-pandemic-is-about-eyes-shut/article32025369.ece?homepage=true&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more.&lt;/p&gt;
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There is a resonance between Saramago&amp;rsquo;s literary world and the migrant labour distress in contemporary India

The novel, Blindness, by Portuguese Nobel Laureate Jos&amp;eacute; Saramago, is strikingly prescient about a sweeping illness. The plot revolves around a mysterious epidemic because...&#039;
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There is a resonance between Saramago&rsquo;s literary world and the migrant labour distress in contemporary India

The novel, Blindness, by Portuguese Nobel Laureate Jos&eacute; Saramago, is strikingly prescient about a sweeping illness. The plot revolves around a mysterious epidemic because..."/>
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                <strong> The pandemic is about eyes shut -Rajendran Narayanan</strong></h1>
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                <p style="text-align:justify">-The Hindu</p><p style="text-align:justify"><em>There is a resonance between Saramago&rsquo;s literary world and the migrant labour distress in contemporary India</em></p><p style="text-align:justify">The novel, Blindness, by Portuguese Nobel Laureate Jos&eacute; Saramago, is strikingly prescient about a sweeping illness. The plot revolves around a mysterious epidemic because of which people suddenly turn blind.</p><p style="text-align:justify"><em>The thread</em></p><p style="text-align:justify">It starts with a person driving his car who turns blind while waiting at a traffic signal. He pleads to be taken home and a man, on the pretext of helping, takes him home but soon after runs away with his car. The contagion spreads rapidly and all those affected by the epidemic are quarantined in an asylum. The novel follows seven people, who do not have names but only descriptions: the doctor, the doctor&rsquo;s wife, the girl with the dark glasses, etc. Lack of equitable delivery of food, inhospitable and unhygienic living conditions, police brutality and apathy of power structures lead to panic among the blind. They are on the brink of starvation. Seven characters escape the asylum and enter the city where they came from only to find that everybody in the city has become blind. Lacking any support, the country plunges into utter despair before resurrection happens quite magically.</p><p style="text-align:justify">Apart from the obvious connections with the pandemic, there are other, numerous and allegorical ways in which Saramago&rsquo;s world resonates with contemporary India.</p><p style="text-align:justify"><em>Data and worker anonymity</em></p><p style="text-align:justify">Consider for example, the case of blindness regarding the number of migrant workers. The government&rsquo;s own data sources are inconsistent and are a massive underestimate. The office of the Chief Labour Commissioner stated that there are 26 lakh migrants while various estimates, including the Economic Survey, put this number above 8 crore people. The anonymity of the workers has been reinforced as governments have not kept records of who they are and where they are working. This lack of accountability has given a free rein to the complex web of contractors and sub-contractors to exert various forms of exploitation. The migrant workers, like the characters in Blindness, have been rendered nameless in this unequal power gambit.</p><p style="text-align:justify">Then, there is the blindness about hunger and deaths. On June 30, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced free food grains for National Food Security Act (NFSA) beneficiaries till November. While it is a welcome move, it yet again excludes those without ration cards. As per estimates of Meghana Mungikar, Jean Dr&egrave;ze, and Reetika Khera, roughly 10 crore eligible beneficiaries continue to be excluded under the NFSA . This is because the central government is still using 2011 Census data and hence underestimates NFSA coverage. Moreover, migrants and many self-employed workers do not have ration cards. At a time when the warehouses of the Food Corporation of India have 2.5 times the buffer stock norms, not universalising rations is inexplicable.</p><p style="text-align:justify">Please <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/the-pandemic-is-about-eyes-shut/article32025369.ece?homepage=true" title="https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/the-pandemic-is-about-eyes-shut/article32025369.ece?homepage=true">click here</a> to read more.</p>               </font>
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&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;There is a resonance between Saramago&amp;rsquo;s literary world and the migrant labour distress in contemporary India&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;The novel, Blindness, by Portuguese Nobel Laureate Jos&amp;eacute; Saramago, is strikingly prescient about a sweeping illness. The plot revolves around a mysterious epidemic because of which people suddenly turn blind.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;The thread&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;It starts with a person driving his car who turns blind while waiting at a traffic signal. He pleads to be taken home and a man, on the pretext of helping, takes him home but soon after runs away with his car. The contagion spreads rapidly and all those affected by the epidemic are quarantined in an asylum. The novel follows seven people, who do not have names but only descriptions: the doctor, the doctor&amp;rsquo;s wife, the girl with the dark glasses, etc. Lack of equitable delivery of food, inhospitable and unhygienic living conditions, police brutality and apathy of power structures lead to panic among the blind. They are on the brink of starvation. Seven characters escape the asylum and enter the city where they came from only to find that everybody in the city has become blind. Lacking any support, the country plunges into utter despair before resurrection happens quite magically.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Apart from the obvious connections with the pandemic, there are other, numerous and allegorical ways in which Saramago&amp;rsquo;s world resonates with contemporary India.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Data and worker anonymity&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Consider for example, the case of blindness regarding the number of migrant workers. The government&amp;rsquo;s own data sources are inconsistent and are a massive underestimate. The office of the Chief Labour Commissioner stated that there are 26 lakh migrants while various estimates, including the Economic Survey, put this number above 8 crore people. The anonymity of the workers has been reinforced as governments have not kept records of who they are and where they are working. This lack of accountability has given a free rein to the complex web of contractors and sub-contractors to exert various forms of exploitation. The migrant workers, like the characters in Blindness, have been rendered nameless in this unequal power gambit.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Then, there is the blindness about hunger and deaths. On June 30, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced free food grains for National Food Security Act (NFSA) beneficiaries till November. While it is a welcome move, it yet again excludes those without ration cards. As per estimates of Meghana Mungikar, Jean Dr&amp;egrave;ze, and Reetika Khera, roughly 10 crore eligible beneficiaries continue to be excluded under the NFSA . This is because the central government is still using 2011 Census data and hence underestimates NFSA coverage. Moreover, migrants and many self-employed workers do not have ration cards. At a time when the warehouses of the Food Corporation of India have 2.5 times the buffer stock norms, not universalising rations is inexplicable.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/the-pandemic-is-about-eyes-shut/article32025369.ece?homepage=true&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more.&lt;/p&gt;
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There is a resonance between Saramago&amp;rsquo;s literary world and the migrant labour distress in contemporary India

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&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;There is a resonance between Saramago&amp;rsquo;s literary world and the migrant labour distress in contemporary India&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;The novel, Blindness, by Portuguese Nobel Laureate Jos&amp;eacute; Saramago, is strikingly prescient about a sweeping illness. The plot revolves around a mysterious epidemic because of which people suddenly turn blind.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;The thread&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;It starts with a person driving his car who turns blind while waiting at a traffic signal. He pleads to be taken home and a man, on the pretext of helping, takes him home but soon after runs away with his car. The contagion spreads rapidly and all those affected by the epidemic are quarantined in an asylum. The novel follows seven people, who do not have names but only descriptions: the doctor, the doctor&amp;rsquo;s wife, the girl with the dark glasses, etc. Lack of equitable delivery of food, inhospitable and unhygienic living conditions, police brutality and apathy of power structures lead to panic among the blind. They are on the brink of starvation. Seven characters escape the asylum and enter the city where they came from only to find that everybody in the city has become blind. Lacking any support, the country plunges into utter despair before resurrection happens quite magically.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Apart from the obvious connections with the pandemic, there are other, numerous and allegorical ways in which Saramago&amp;rsquo;s world resonates with contemporary India.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Data and worker anonymity&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Consider for example, the case of blindness regarding the number of migrant workers. The government&amp;rsquo;s own data sources are inconsistent and are a massive underestimate. The office of the Chief Labour Commissioner stated that there are 26 lakh migrants while various estimates, including the Economic Survey, put this number above 8 crore people. The anonymity of the workers has been reinforced as governments have not kept records of who they are and where they are working. This lack of accountability has given a free rein to the complex web of contractors and sub-contractors to exert various forms of exploitation. The migrant workers, like the characters in Blindness, have been rendered nameless in this unequal power gambit.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Then, there is the blindness about hunger and deaths. On June 30, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced free food grains for National Food Security Act (NFSA) beneficiaries till November. While it is a welcome move, it yet again excludes those without ration cards. As per estimates of Meghana Mungikar, Jean Dr&amp;egrave;ze, and Reetika Khera, roughly 10 crore eligible beneficiaries continue to be excluded under the NFSA . This is because the central government is still using 2011 Census data and hence underestimates NFSA coverage. Moreover, migrants and many self-employed workers do not have ration cards. At a time when the warehouses of the Food Corporation of India have 2.5 times the buffer stock norms, not universalising rations is inexplicable.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/the-pandemic-is-about-eyes-shut/article32025369.ece?homepage=true&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more.&lt;/p&gt;
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There is a resonance between Saramago&amp;rsquo;s literary world and the migrant labour distress in contemporary India

The novel, Blindness, by Portuguese Nobel Laureate Jos&amp;eacute; Saramago, is strikingly prescient about a sweeping illness. The plot revolves around a mysterious epidemic because...&#039;
$disp = &#039;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;-The Hindu&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;There is a resonance between Saramago&amp;rsquo;s literary world and the migrant labour distress in contemporary India&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;The novel, Blindness, by Portuguese Nobel Laureate Jos&amp;eacute; Saramago, is strikingly prescient about a sweeping illness. The plot revolves around a mysterious epidemic because of which people suddenly turn blind.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;The thread&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;It starts with a person driving his car who turns blind while waiting at a traffic signal. He pleads to be taken home and a man, on the pretext of helping, takes him home but soon after runs away with his car. The contagion spreads rapidly and all those affected by the epidemic are quarantined in an asylum. The novel follows seven people, who do not have names but only descriptions: the doctor, the doctor&amp;rsquo;s wife, the girl with the dark glasses, etc. Lack of equitable delivery of food, inhospitable and unhygienic living conditions, police brutality and apathy of power structures lead to panic among the blind. They are on the brink of starvation. Seven characters escape the asylum and enter the city where they came from only to find that everybody in the city has become blind. Lacking any support, the country plunges into utter despair before resurrection happens quite magically.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Apart from the obvious connections with the pandemic, there are other, numerous and allegorical ways in which Saramago&amp;rsquo;s world resonates with contemporary India.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Data and worker anonymity&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Consider for example, the case of blindness regarding the number of migrant workers. The government&amp;rsquo;s own data sources are inconsistent and are a massive underestimate. The office of the Chief Labour Commissioner stated that there are 26 lakh migrants while various estimates, including the Economic Survey, put this number above 8 crore people. The anonymity of the workers has been reinforced as governments have not kept records of who they are and where they are working. This lack of accountability has given a free rein to the complex web of contractors and sub-contractors to exert various forms of exploitation. The migrant workers, like the characters in Blindness, have been rendered nameless in this unequal power gambit.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Then, there is the blindness about hunger and deaths. On June 30, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced free food grains for National Food Security Act (NFSA) beneficiaries till November. While it is a welcome move, it yet again excludes those without ration cards. As per estimates of Meghana Mungikar, Jean Dr&amp;egrave;ze, and Reetika Khera, roughly 10 crore eligible beneficiaries continue to be excluded under the NFSA . This is because the central government is still using 2011 Census data and hence underestimates NFSA coverage. Moreover, migrants and many self-employed workers do not have ration cards. At a time when the warehouses of the Food Corporation of India have 2.5 times the buffer stock norms, not universalising rations is inexplicable.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/the-pandemic-is-about-eyes-shut/article32025369.ece?homepage=true&quot; title=&quot;https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/the-pandemic-is-about-eyes-shut/article32025369.ece?homepage=true&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more.&lt;/p&gt;&#039;
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There is a resonance between Saramago&rsquo;s literary world and the migrant labour distress in contemporary India

The novel, Blindness, by Portuguese Nobel Laureate Jos&eacute; Saramago, is strikingly prescient about a sweeping illness. The plot revolves around a mysterious epidemic because..."/>
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                <strong> The pandemic is about eyes shut -Rajendran Narayanan</strong></h1>
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                <p style="text-align:justify">-The Hindu</p><p style="text-align:justify"><em>There is a resonance between Saramago&rsquo;s literary world and the migrant labour distress in contemporary India</em></p><p style="text-align:justify">The novel, Blindness, by Portuguese Nobel Laureate Jos&eacute; Saramago, is strikingly prescient about a sweeping illness. The plot revolves around a mysterious epidemic because of which people suddenly turn blind.</p><p style="text-align:justify"><em>The thread</em></p><p style="text-align:justify">It starts with a person driving his car who turns blind while waiting at a traffic signal. He pleads to be taken home and a man, on the pretext of helping, takes him home but soon after runs away with his car. The contagion spreads rapidly and all those affected by the epidemic are quarantined in an asylum. The novel follows seven people, who do not have names but only descriptions: the doctor, the doctor&rsquo;s wife, the girl with the dark glasses, etc. Lack of equitable delivery of food, inhospitable and unhygienic living conditions, police brutality and apathy of power structures lead to panic among the blind. They are on the brink of starvation. Seven characters escape the asylum and enter the city where they came from only to find that everybody in the city has become blind. Lacking any support, the country plunges into utter despair before resurrection happens quite magically.</p><p style="text-align:justify">Apart from the obvious connections with the pandemic, there are other, numerous and allegorical ways in which Saramago&rsquo;s world resonates with contemporary India.</p><p style="text-align:justify"><em>Data and worker anonymity</em></p><p style="text-align:justify">Consider for example, the case of blindness regarding the number of migrant workers. The government&rsquo;s own data sources are inconsistent and are a massive underestimate. The office of the Chief Labour Commissioner stated that there are 26 lakh migrants while various estimates, including the Economic Survey, put this number above 8 crore people. The anonymity of the workers has been reinforced as governments have not kept records of who they are and where they are working. This lack of accountability has given a free rein to the complex web of contractors and sub-contractors to exert various forms of exploitation. The migrant workers, like the characters in Blindness, have been rendered nameless in this unequal power gambit.</p><p style="text-align:justify">Then, there is the blindness about hunger and deaths. On June 30, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced free food grains for National Food Security Act (NFSA) beneficiaries till November. While it is a welcome move, it yet again excludes those without ration cards. As per estimates of Meghana Mungikar, Jean Dr&egrave;ze, and Reetika Khera, roughly 10 crore eligible beneficiaries continue to be excluded under the NFSA . This is because the central government is still using 2011 Census data and hence underestimates NFSA coverage. Moreover, migrants and many self-employed workers do not have ration cards. At a time when the warehouses of the Food Corporation of India have 2.5 times the buffer stock norms, not universalising rations is inexplicable.</p><p style="text-align:justify">Please <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/the-pandemic-is-about-eyes-shut/article32025369.ece?homepage=true" title="https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/the-pandemic-is-about-eyes-shut/article32025369.ece?homepage=true">click here</a> to read more.</p>               </font>
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		&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;-The Hindu&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;There is a resonance between Saramago&amp;rsquo;s literary world and the migrant labour distress in contemporary India&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;The novel, Blindness, by Portuguese Nobel Laureate Jos&amp;eacute; Saramago, is strikingly prescient about a sweeping illness. The plot revolves around a mysterious epidemic because of which people suddenly turn blind.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;The thread&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;It starts with a person driving his car who turns blind while waiting at a traffic signal. He pleads to be taken home and a man, on the pretext of helping, takes him home but soon after runs away with his car. The contagion spreads rapidly and all those affected by the epidemic are quarantined in an asylum. The novel follows seven people, who do not have names but only descriptions: the doctor, the doctor&amp;rsquo;s wife, the girl with the dark glasses, etc. Lack of equitable delivery of food, inhospitable and unhygienic living conditions, police brutality and apathy of power structures lead to panic among the blind. They are on the brink of starvation. Seven characters escape the asylum and enter the city where they came from only to find that everybody in the city has become blind. Lacking any support, the country plunges into utter despair before resurrection happens quite magically.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Apart from the obvious connections with the pandemic, there are other, numerous and allegorical ways in which Saramago&amp;rsquo;s world resonates with contemporary India.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Data and worker anonymity&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Consider for example, the case of blindness regarding the number of migrant workers. The government&amp;rsquo;s own data sources are inconsistent and are a massive underestimate. The office of the Chief Labour Commissioner stated that there are 26 lakh migrants while various estimates, including the Economic Survey, put this number above 8 crore people. The anonymity of the workers has been reinforced as governments have not kept records of who they are and where they are working. This lack of accountability has given a free rein to the complex web of contractors and sub-contractors to exert various forms of exploitation. The migrant workers, like the characters in Blindness, have been rendered nameless in this unequal power gambit.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Then, there is the blindness about hunger and deaths. On June 30, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced free food grains for National Food Security Act (NFSA) beneficiaries till November. While it is a welcome move, it yet again excludes those without ration cards. As per estimates of Meghana Mungikar, Jean Dr&amp;egrave;ze, and Reetika Khera, roughly 10 crore eligible beneficiaries continue to be excluded under the NFSA . This is because the central government is still using 2011 Census data and hence underestimates NFSA coverage. Moreover, migrants and many self-employed workers do not have ration cards. At a time when the warehouses of the Food Corporation of India have 2.5 times the buffer stock norms, not universalising rations is inexplicable.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/the-pandemic-is-about-eyes-shut/article32025369.ece?homepage=true&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more.&lt;/p&gt;
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	&#039;metaDesc&#039; =&gt; &#039;-The Hindu

There is a resonance between Saramago&amp;rsquo;s literary world and the migrant labour distress in contemporary India

The novel, Blindness, by Portuguese Nobel Laureate Jos&amp;eacute; Saramago, is strikingly prescient about a sweeping illness. The plot revolves around a mysterious epidemic because...&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;-The Hindu&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;There is a resonance between Saramago&amp;rsquo;s literary world and the migrant labour distress in contemporary India&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;The novel, Blindness, by Portuguese Nobel Laureate Jos&amp;eacute; Saramago, is strikingly prescient about a sweeping illness. The plot revolves around a mysterious epidemic because of which people suddenly turn blind.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;The thread&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;It starts with a person driving his car who turns blind while waiting at a traffic signal. He pleads to be taken home and a man, on the pretext of helping, takes him home but soon after runs away with his car. The contagion spreads rapidly and all those affected by the epidemic are quarantined in an asylum. The novel follows seven people, who do not have names but only descriptions: the doctor, the doctor&amp;rsquo;s wife, the girl with the dark glasses, etc. Lack of equitable delivery of food, inhospitable and unhygienic living conditions, police brutality and apathy of power structures lead to panic among the blind. They are on the brink of starvation. Seven characters escape the asylum and enter the city where they came from only to find that everybody in the city has become blind. Lacking any support, the country plunges into utter despair before resurrection happens quite magically.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Apart from the obvious connections with the pandemic, there are other, numerous and allegorical ways in which Saramago&amp;rsquo;s world resonates with contemporary India.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Data and worker anonymity&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Consider for example, the case of blindness regarding the number of migrant workers. The government&amp;rsquo;s own data sources are inconsistent and are a massive underestimate. The office of the Chief Labour Commissioner stated that there are 26 lakh migrants while various estimates, including the Economic Survey, put this number above 8 crore people. The anonymity of the workers has been reinforced as governments have not kept records of who they are and where they are working. This lack of accountability has given a free rein to the complex web of contractors and sub-contractors to exert various forms of exploitation. The migrant workers, like the characters in Blindness, have been rendered nameless in this unequal power gambit.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Then, there is the blindness about hunger and deaths. On June 30, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced free food grains for National Food Security Act (NFSA) beneficiaries till November. While it is a welcome move, it yet again excludes those without ration cards. As per estimates of Meghana Mungikar, Jean Dr&amp;egrave;ze, and Reetika Khera, roughly 10 crore eligible beneficiaries continue to be excluded under the NFSA . This is because the central government is still using 2011 Census data and hence underestimates NFSA coverage. Moreover, migrants and many self-employed workers do not have ration cards. At a time when the warehouses of the Food Corporation of India have 2.5 times the buffer stock norms, not universalising rations is inexplicable.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/the-pandemic-is-about-eyes-shut/article32025369.ece?homepage=true&quot; title=&quot;https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/the-pandemic-is-about-eyes-shut/article32025369.ece?homepage=true&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more.&lt;/p&gt;&#039;,
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	&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039; The pandemic is about eyes shut -Rajendran Narayanan&#039;,
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	&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;-The Hindu&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;There is a resonance between Saramago&amp;rsquo;s literary world and the migrant labour distress in contemporary India&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;The novel, Blindness, by Portuguese Nobel Laureate Jos&amp;eacute; Saramago, is strikingly prescient about a sweeping illness. The plot revolves around a mysterious epidemic because of which people suddenly turn blind.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;The thread&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;It starts with a person driving his car who turns blind while waiting at a traffic signal. He pleads to be taken home and a man, on the pretext of helping, takes him home but soon after runs away with his car. The contagion spreads rapidly and all those affected by the epidemic are quarantined in an asylum. The novel follows seven people, who do not have names but only descriptions: the doctor, the doctor&amp;rsquo;s wife, the girl with the dark glasses, etc. Lack of equitable delivery of food, inhospitable and unhygienic living conditions, police brutality and apathy of power structures lead to panic among the blind. They are on the brink of starvation. Seven characters escape the asylum and enter the city where they came from only to find that everybody in the city has become blind. Lacking any support, the country plunges into utter despair before resurrection happens quite magically.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Apart from the obvious connections with the pandemic, there are other, numerous and allegorical ways in which Saramago&amp;rsquo;s world resonates with contemporary India.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Data and worker anonymity&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Consider for example, the case of blindness regarding the number of migrant workers. The government&amp;rsquo;s own data sources are inconsistent and are a massive underestimate. The office of the Chief Labour Commissioner stated that there are 26 lakh migrants while various estimates, including the Economic Survey, put this number above 8 crore people. The anonymity of the workers has been reinforced as governments have not kept records of who they are and where they are working. This lack of accountability has given a free rein to the complex web of contractors and sub-contractors to exert various forms of exploitation. The migrant workers, like the characters in Blindness, have been rendered nameless in this unequal power gambit.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Then, there is the blindness about hunger and deaths. On June 30, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced free food grains for National Food Security Act (NFSA) beneficiaries till November. While it is a welcome move, it yet again excludes those without ration cards. As per estimates of Meghana Mungikar, Jean Dr&amp;egrave;ze, and Reetika Khera, roughly 10 crore eligible beneficiaries continue to be excluded under the NFSA . This is because the central government is still using 2011 Census data and hence underestimates NFSA coverage. Moreover, migrants and many self-employed workers do not have ration cards. At a time when the warehouses of the Food Corporation of India have 2.5 times the buffer stock norms, not universalising rations is inexplicable.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/the-pandemic-is-about-eyes-shut/article32025369.ece?homepage=true&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more.&lt;/p&gt;
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There is a resonance between Saramago&amp;rsquo;s literary world and the migrant labour distress in contemporary India

The novel, Blindness, by Portuguese Nobel Laureate Jos&amp;eacute; Saramago, is strikingly prescient about a sweeping illness. The plot revolves around a mysterious epidemic because...&#039;
$disp = &#039;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;-The Hindu&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;There is a resonance between Saramago&amp;rsquo;s literary world and the migrant labour distress in contemporary India&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;The novel, Blindness, by Portuguese Nobel Laureate Jos&amp;eacute; Saramago, is strikingly prescient about a sweeping illness. The plot revolves around a mysterious epidemic because of which people suddenly turn blind.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;The thread&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;It starts with a person driving his car who turns blind while waiting at a traffic signal. He pleads to be taken home and a man, on the pretext of helping, takes him home but soon after runs away with his car. The contagion spreads rapidly and all those affected by the epidemic are quarantined in an asylum. The novel follows seven people, who do not have names but only descriptions: the doctor, the doctor&amp;rsquo;s wife, the girl with the dark glasses, etc. Lack of equitable delivery of food, inhospitable and unhygienic living conditions, police brutality and apathy of power structures lead to panic among the blind. They are on the brink of starvation. Seven characters escape the asylum and enter the city where they came from only to find that everybody in the city has become blind. Lacking any support, the country plunges into utter despair before resurrection happens quite magically.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Apart from the obvious connections with the pandemic, there are other, numerous and allegorical ways in which Saramago&amp;rsquo;s world resonates with contemporary India.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Data and worker anonymity&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Consider for example, the case of blindness regarding the number of migrant workers. The government&amp;rsquo;s own data sources are inconsistent and are a massive underestimate. The office of the Chief Labour Commissioner stated that there are 26 lakh migrants while various estimates, including the Economic Survey, put this number above 8 crore people. The anonymity of the workers has been reinforced as governments have not kept records of who they are and where they are working. This lack of accountability has given a free rein to the complex web of contractors and sub-contractors to exert various forms of exploitation. The migrant workers, like the characters in Blindness, have been rendered nameless in this unequal power gambit.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Then, there is the blindness about hunger and deaths. On June 30, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced free food grains for National Food Security Act (NFSA) beneficiaries till November. While it is a welcome move, it yet again excludes those without ration cards. As per estimates of Meghana Mungikar, Jean Dr&amp;egrave;ze, and Reetika Khera, roughly 10 crore eligible beneficiaries continue to be excluded under the NFSA . This is because the central government is still using 2011 Census data and hence underestimates NFSA coverage. Moreover, migrants and many self-employed workers do not have ration cards. At a time when the warehouses of the Food Corporation of India have 2.5 times the buffer stock norms, not universalising rations is inexplicable.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-align:justify&quot;&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/the-pandemic-is-about-eyes-shut/article32025369.ece?homepage=true&quot; title=&quot;https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/the-pandemic-is-about-eyes-shut/article32025369.ece?homepage=true&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more.&lt;/p&gt;&#039;
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There is a resonance between Saramago&rsquo;s literary world and the migrant labour distress in contemporary India

The novel, Blindness, by Portuguese Nobel Laureate Jos&eacute; Saramago, is strikingly prescient about a sweeping illness. The plot revolves around a mysterious epidemic because..."/>
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                <strong> The pandemic is about eyes shut -Rajendran Narayanan</strong></h1>
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                <p style="text-align:justify">-The Hindu</p><p style="text-align:justify"><em>There is a resonance between Saramago&rsquo;s literary world and the migrant labour distress in contemporary India</em></p><p style="text-align:justify">The novel, Blindness, by Portuguese Nobel Laureate Jos&eacute; Saramago, is strikingly prescient about a sweeping illness. The plot revolves around a mysterious epidemic because of which people suddenly turn blind.</p><p style="text-align:justify"><em>The thread</em></p><p style="text-align:justify">It starts with a person driving his car who turns blind while waiting at a traffic signal. He pleads to be taken home and a man, on the pretext of helping, takes him home but soon after runs away with his car. The contagion spreads rapidly and all those affected by the epidemic are quarantined in an asylum. The novel follows seven people, who do not have names but only descriptions: the doctor, the doctor&rsquo;s wife, the girl with the dark glasses, etc. Lack of equitable delivery of food, inhospitable and unhygienic living conditions, police brutality and apathy of power structures lead to panic among the blind. They are on the brink of starvation. Seven characters escape the asylum and enter the city where they came from only to find that everybody in the city has become blind. Lacking any support, the country plunges into utter despair before resurrection happens quite magically.</p><p style="text-align:justify">Apart from the obvious connections with the pandemic, there are other, numerous and allegorical ways in which Saramago&rsquo;s world resonates with contemporary India.</p><p style="text-align:justify"><em>Data and worker anonymity</em></p><p style="text-align:justify">Consider for example, the case of blindness regarding the number of migrant workers. The government&rsquo;s own data sources are inconsistent and are a massive underestimate. The office of the Chief Labour Commissioner stated that there are 26 lakh migrants while various estimates, including the Economic Survey, put this number above 8 crore people. The anonymity of the workers has been reinforced as governments have not kept records of who they are and where they are working. This lack of accountability has given a free rein to the complex web of contractors and sub-contractors to exert various forms of exploitation. The migrant workers, like the characters in Blindness, have been rendered nameless in this unequal power gambit.</p><p style="text-align:justify">Then, there is the blindness about hunger and deaths. On June 30, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced free food grains for National Food Security Act (NFSA) beneficiaries till November. While it is a welcome move, it yet again excludes those without ration cards. As per estimates of Meghana Mungikar, Jean Dr&egrave;ze, and Reetika Khera, roughly 10 crore eligible beneficiaries continue to be excluded under the NFSA . This is because the central government is still using 2011 Census data and hence underestimates NFSA coverage. Moreover, migrants and many self-employed workers do not have ration cards. At a time when the warehouses of the Food Corporation of India have 2.5 times the buffer stock norms, not universalising rations is inexplicable.</p><p style="text-align:justify">Please <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/the-pandemic-is-about-eyes-shut/article32025369.ece?homepage=true" title="https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/the-pandemic-is-about-eyes-shut/article32025369.ece?homepage=true">click here</a> to read more.</p>               </font>
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		'title' => ' The pandemic is about eyes shut -Rajendran Narayanan',
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		'description' => '<p style="text-align:justify">-The Hindu</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><em>There is a resonance between Saramago&rsquo;s literary world and the migrant labour distress in contemporary India</em></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">The novel, Blindness, by Portuguese Nobel Laureate Jos&eacute; Saramago, is strikingly prescient about a sweeping illness. The plot revolves around a mysterious epidemic because of which people suddenly turn blind.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><em>The thread</em></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">It starts with a person driving his car who turns blind while waiting at a traffic signal. He pleads to be taken home and a man, on the pretext of helping, takes him home but soon after runs away with his car. The contagion spreads rapidly and all those affected by the epidemic are quarantined in an asylum. The novel follows seven people, who do not have names but only descriptions: the doctor, the doctor&rsquo;s wife, the girl with the dark glasses, etc. Lack of equitable delivery of food, inhospitable and unhygienic living conditions, police brutality and apathy of power structures lead to panic among the blind. They are on the brink of starvation. Seven characters escape the asylum and enter the city where they came from only to find that everybody in the city has become blind. Lacking any support, the country plunges into utter despair before resurrection happens quite magically.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">Apart from the obvious connections with the pandemic, there are other, numerous and allegorical ways in which Saramago&rsquo;s world resonates with contemporary India.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><em>Data and worker anonymity</em></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">Consider for example, the case of blindness regarding the number of migrant workers. The government&rsquo;s own data sources are inconsistent and are a massive underestimate. The office of the Chief Labour Commissioner stated that there are 26 lakh migrants while various estimates, including the Economic Survey, put this number above 8 crore people. The anonymity of the workers has been reinforced as governments have not kept records of who they are and where they are working. This lack of accountability has given a free rein to the complex web of contractors and sub-contractors to exert various forms of exploitation. The migrant workers, like the characters in Blindness, have been rendered nameless in this unequal power gambit.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">Then, there is the blindness about hunger and deaths. On June 30, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced free food grains for National Food Security Act (NFSA) beneficiaries till November. While it is a welcome move, it yet again excludes those without ration cards. As per estimates of Meghana Mungikar, Jean Dr&egrave;ze, and Reetika Khera, roughly 10 crore eligible beneficiaries continue to be excluded under the NFSA . This is because the central government is still using 2011 Census data and hence underestimates NFSA coverage. Moreover, migrants and many self-employed workers do not have ration cards. At a time when the warehouses of the Food Corporation of India have 2.5 times the buffer stock norms, not universalising rations is inexplicable.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">Please <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/the-pandemic-is-about-eyes-shut/article32025369.ece?homepage=true">click here</a> to read more.</p>
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	'metaTitle' => 'LATEST NEWS UPDATES |  The pandemic is about eyes shut -Rajendran Narayanan',
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There is a resonance between Saramago&rsquo;s literary world and the migrant labour distress in contemporary India

The novel, Blindness, by Portuguese Nobel Laureate Jos&eacute; Saramago, is strikingly prescient about a sweeping illness. The plot revolves around a mysterious epidemic because...',
	'disp' => '<p style="text-align:justify">-The Hindu</p><p style="text-align:justify"><em>There is a resonance between Saramago&rsquo;s literary world and the migrant labour distress in contemporary India</em></p><p style="text-align:justify">The novel, Blindness, by Portuguese Nobel Laureate Jos&eacute; Saramago, is strikingly prescient about a sweeping illness. The plot revolves around a mysterious epidemic because of which people suddenly turn blind.</p><p style="text-align:justify"><em>The thread</em></p><p style="text-align:justify">It starts with a person driving his car who turns blind while waiting at a traffic signal. He pleads to be taken home and a man, on the pretext of helping, takes him home but soon after runs away with his car. The contagion spreads rapidly and all those affected by the epidemic are quarantined in an asylum. The novel follows seven people, who do not have names but only descriptions: the doctor, the doctor&rsquo;s wife, the girl with the dark glasses, etc. Lack of equitable delivery of food, inhospitable and unhygienic living conditions, police brutality and apathy of power structures lead to panic among the blind. They are on the brink of starvation. Seven characters escape the asylum and enter the city where they came from only to find that everybody in the city has become blind. Lacking any support, the country plunges into utter despair before resurrection happens quite magically.</p><p style="text-align:justify">Apart from the obvious connections with the pandemic, there are other, numerous and allegorical ways in which Saramago&rsquo;s world resonates with contemporary India.</p><p style="text-align:justify"><em>Data and worker anonymity</em></p><p style="text-align:justify">Consider for example, the case of blindness regarding the number of migrant workers. The government&rsquo;s own data sources are inconsistent and are a massive underestimate. The office of the Chief Labour Commissioner stated that there are 26 lakh migrants while various estimates, including the Economic Survey, put this number above 8 crore people. The anonymity of the workers has been reinforced as governments have not kept records of who they are and where they are working. This lack of accountability has given a free rein to the complex web of contractors and sub-contractors to exert various forms of exploitation. The migrant workers, like the characters in Blindness, have been rendered nameless in this unequal power gambit.</p><p style="text-align:justify">Then, there is the blindness about hunger and deaths. On June 30, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced free food grains for National Food Security Act (NFSA) beneficiaries till November. While it is a welcome move, it yet again excludes those without ration cards. As per estimates of Meghana Mungikar, Jean Dr&egrave;ze, and Reetika Khera, roughly 10 crore eligible beneficiaries continue to be excluded under the NFSA . This is because the central government is still using 2011 Census data and hence underestimates NFSA coverage. Moreover, migrants and many self-employed workers do not have ration cards. At a time when the warehouses of the Food Corporation of India have 2.5 times the buffer stock norms, not universalising rations is inexplicable.</p><p style="text-align:justify">Please <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/the-pandemic-is-about-eyes-shut/article32025369.ece?homepage=true" title="https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/the-pandemic-is-about-eyes-shut/article32025369.ece?homepage=true">click here</a> to read more.</p>',
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	'title' => ' The pandemic is about eyes shut -Rajendran Narayanan',
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	'description' => '<p style="text-align:justify">-The Hindu</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><em>There is a resonance between Saramago&rsquo;s literary world and the migrant labour distress in contemporary India</em></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">The novel, Blindness, by Portuguese Nobel Laureate Jos&eacute; Saramago, is strikingly prescient about a sweeping illness. The plot revolves around a mysterious epidemic because of which people suddenly turn blind.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><em>The thread</em></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">It starts with a person driving his car who turns blind while waiting at a traffic signal. He pleads to be taken home and a man, on the pretext of helping, takes him home but soon after runs away with his car. The contagion spreads rapidly and all those affected by the epidemic are quarantined in an asylum. The novel follows seven people, who do not have names but only descriptions: the doctor, the doctor&rsquo;s wife, the girl with the dark glasses, etc. Lack of equitable delivery of food, inhospitable and unhygienic living conditions, police brutality and apathy of power structures lead to panic among the blind. They are on the brink of starvation. Seven characters escape the asylum and enter the city where they came from only to find that everybody in the city has become blind. Lacking any support, the country plunges into utter despair before resurrection happens quite magically.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">Apart from the obvious connections with the pandemic, there are other, numerous and allegorical ways in which Saramago&rsquo;s world resonates with contemporary India.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><em>Data and worker anonymity</em></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">Consider for example, the case of blindness regarding the number of migrant workers. The government&rsquo;s own data sources are inconsistent and are a massive underestimate. The office of the Chief Labour Commissioner stated that there are 26 lakh migrants while various estimates, including the Economic Survey, put this number above 8 crore people. The anonymity of the workers has been reinforced as governments have not kept records of who they are and where they are working. This lack of accountability has given a free rein to the complex web of contractors and sub-contractors to exert various forms of exploitation. The migrant workers, like the characters in Blindness, have been rendered nameless in this unequal power gambit.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">Then, there is the blindness about hunger and deaths. On June 30, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced free food grains for National Food Security Act (NFSA) beneficiaries till November. While it is a welcome move, it yet again excludes those without ration cards. As per estimates of Meghana Mungikar, Jean Dr&egrave;ze, and Reetika Khera, roughly 10 crore eligible beneficiaries continue to be excluded under the NFSA . This is because the central government is still using 2011 Census data and hence underestimates NFSA coverage. Moreover, migrants and many self-employed workers do not have ration cards. At a time when the warehouses of the Food Corporation of India have 2.5 times the buffer stock norms, not universalising rations is inexplicable.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">Please <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/the-pandemic-is-about-eyes-shut/article32025369.ece?homepage=true">click here</a> to read more.</p>
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There is a resonance between Saramago&rsquo;s literary world and the migrant labour distress in contemporary India

The novel, Blindness, by Portuguese Nobel Laureate Jos&eacute; Saramago, is strikingly prescient about a sweeping illness. The plot revolves around a mysterious epidemic because...'
$disp = '<p style="text-align:justify">-The Hindu</p><p style="text-align:justify"><em>There is a resonance between Saramago&rsquo;s literary world and the migrant labour distress in contemporary India</em></p><p style="text-align:justify">The novel, Blindness, by Portuguese Nobel Laureate Jos&eacute; Saramago, is strikingly prescient about a sweeping illness. The plot revolves around a mysterious epidemic because of which people suddenly turn blind.</p><p style="text-align:justify"><em>The thread</em></p><p style="text-align:justify">It starts with a person driving his car who turns blind while waiting at a traffic signal. He pleads to be taken home and a man, on the pretext of helping, takes him home but soon after runs away with his car. The contagion spreads rapidly and all those affected by the epidemic are quarantined in an asylum. The novel follows seven people, who do not have names but only descriptions: the doctor, the doctor&rsquo;s wife, the girl with the dark glasses, etc. Lack of equitable delivery of food, inhospitable and unhygienic living conditions, police brutality and apathy of power structures lead to panic among the blind. They are on the brink of starvation. Seven characters escape the asylum and enter the city where they came from only to find that everybody in the city has become blind. Lacking any support, the country plunges into utter despair before resurrection happens quite magically.</p><p style="text-align:justify">Apart from the obvious connections with the pandemic, there are other, numerous and allegorical ways in which Saramago&rsquo;s world resonates with contemporary India.</p><p style="text-align:justify"><em>Data and worker anonymity</em></p><p style="text-align:justify">Consider for example, the case of blindness regarding the number of migrant workers. The government&rsquo;s own data sources are inconsistent and are a massive underestimate. The office of the Chief Labour Commissioner stated that there are 26 lakh migrants while various estimates, including the Economic Survey, put this number above 8 crore people. The anonymity of the workers has been reinforced as governments have not kept records of who they are and where they are working. This lack of accountability has given a free rein to the complex web of contractors and sub-contractors to exert various forms of exploitation. The migrant workers, like the characters in Blindness, have been rendered nameless in this unequal power gambit.</p><p style="text-align:justify">Then, there is the blindness about hunger and deaths. On June 30, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced free food grains for National Food Security Act (NFSA) beneficiaries till November. While it is a welcome move, it yet again excludes those without ration cards. As per estimates of Meghana Mungikar, Jean Dr&egrave;ze, and Reetika Khera, roughly 10 crore eligible beneficiaries continue to be excluded under the NFSA . This is because the central government is still using 2011 Census data and hence underestimates NFSA coverage. Moreover, migrants and many self-employed workers do not have ration cards. At a time when the warehouses of the Food Corporation of India have 2.5 times the buffer stock norms, not universalising rations is inexplicable.</p><p style="text-align:justify">Please <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/the-pandemic-is-about-eyes-shut/article32025369.ece?homepage=true" title="https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/the-pandemic-is-about-eyes-shut/article32025369.ece?homepage=true">click here</a> to read more.</p>'
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The pandemic is about eyes shut -Rajendran Narayanan

-The Hindu There is a resonance between Saramago’s literary world and the migrant labour distress in contemporary India The novel, Blindness, by Portuguese Nobel Laureate José Saramago, is strikingly prescient about a sweeping illness. The plot revolves around a mysterious epidemic because of which people suddenly turn blind. The thread It starts with a person driving his car who turns blind while waiting at a traffic signal. He pleads to be taken home and a man, on the pretext of helping, takes him home but soon after runs away with his car. The contagion spreads rapidly and all those affected by the epidemic are quarantined in an asylum. The novel follows seven people, who do not have names but only descriptions: the doctor, the doctor’s wife, the girl with the dark glasses, etc. Lack of equitable delivery of food, inhospitable and unhygienic living conditions, police brutality and apathy of power structures lead to panic among the blind. They are on the brink of starvation. Seven characters escape the asylum and enter the city where they came from only to find that everybody in the city has become blind. Lacking any support, the country plunges into utter despair before resurrection happens quite magically. Apart from the obvious connections with the pandemic, there are other, numerous and allegorical ways in which Saramago’s world resonates with contemporary India. Data and worker anonymity Consider for example, the case of blindness regarding the number of migrant workers. The government’s own data sources are inconsistent and are a massive underestimate. The office of the Chief Labour Commissioner stated that there are 26 lakh migrants while various estimates, including the Economic Survey, put this number above 8 crore people. The anonymity of the workers has been reinforced as governments have not kept records of who they are and where they are working. This lack of accountability has given a free rein to the complex web of contractors and sub-contractors to exert various forms of exploitation. The migrant workers, like the characters in Blindness, have been rendered nameless in this unequal power gambit. Then, there is the blindness about hunger and deaths. On June 30, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced free food grains for National Food Security Act (NFSA) beneficiaries till November. While it is a welcome move, it yet again excludes those without ration cards. As per estimates of Meghana Mungikar, Jean Drèze, and Reetika Khera, roughly 10 crore eligible beneficiaries continue to be excluded under the NFSA . This is because the central government is still using 2011 Census data and hence underestimates NFSA coverage. Moreover, migrants and many self-employed workers do not have ration cards. At a time when the warehouses of the Food Corporation of India have 2.5 times the buffer stock norms, not universalising rations is inexplicable. Please click here to read more.