-NDTV "Marenge toh gaon mein hi marenge" said a determined Ramesh as he walked down a highway in Gurgaon in late March with his wife and two small children. The family had just set off for their village, 450 km away in Madhya Pradesh because they did not think they would survive a 21-day lockdown with no source of income. 45 days, two extensions, a disposed-of petition on wage payment for...

-The Hindu All categories of manufacturing industries showed a contraction in production, with the worst affected being the automobile sector India’s factory output plummeted to record lows in March, with the Index of Industrial Production contracting 16.7%, reflecting the drastic impact of the countrywide lockdown that began on March 25. This comes after a positive growth of 4.5% recorded in February. Manufacturing sector output slumped 20% in March, while electricity generation shrank almost...

-Vikalp.ind.in When the entire country is under a lockdown and many economic activities stopped, thousands of unemployed workers are returning to their home states due to lack of money and food. In such a situation, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) could have played a very important role in generating income and demand in the economy. However, the official data available from the MGNREGS website of the Ministry...

-The Indian Express The rabi crop, known as Boro Dhan in Bengal, is sown in November and usually harvested by April. But this year, the lockdown has delayed the harvest by over a month, and now, farmers are racing against time to finish before the rains at the end of June. Yadav Ghorui has rarely been this busy during harvest season. He is one of eight farm labourers called in to work...

-NDTV The booklet containing what the centre has done for people, especially migrants, will be widely circulated, the source said, adding the massive publicity campaign will be the main thrust of the entire exercise. New Delhi: The centre will launch an "image correction" exercise to counter what is seen as not doing enough to help stranded and hungry migrant workers amid the lockdown necessitated by the coronavirus pandemic, sources have said. The centre...