-Vikalp.ind.in India implemented a national lockdown to contain the spread of COVID-19 pandemic. The lockdown was announced suddenly, and without a prior warning to give time to people to prepare for it. The suddenness with which lockdowns were implemented does not seem to have been part of any plan but a reflection of the lack of planning. On March 16, the Prime Minister asked people across the country to self-quarantine just...
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Jean Drèze, Belgian-born Indian economist and social activist, interviewed by Indivjal Dhasmana (Business Standard)
-Business Standard Dreze was part of academicians and activists who recently wrote to the Centre about the situation of the migrant workers Jean Dreze, a renowned Belgian-born Indian economist, says migrant workers are not feeling safe and that is why they are desperate to go back home. He tells Indivjal Dhasmana the Centre’s new order that labour should stay where it is will be difficult to implement. Dreze was part of academicians...
More »Migrant labourers go jobless with coronavirus lockdown across India -Ritwika Mitra
-The New Indian Express Being jobless and stranded, migrants workers are not only struggling to make ends meet but are now also fighting a stigma as 'virus' carriers. New Delhi: On Monday night, 23-year-old Mahesh Damor, along with five other migrant workers, realised they have no source of income to rely on in Gujarat’s Surat. So they decided to walk - over 300 km from Surat to his village in Jhalod taluka in...
More »Lockdown hits NREGA workers hard -Damini Nath
-The Hindu Support becomes critical as thousands of migrant workers return to villages The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme has been officially shut down in at least seven States, while it is effectively closed in many more, as COVID-19 lockdowns come into effect across the country. Workers’ collectives are demanding relief in the form of wages during the shutdown, payment of pending dues, and extension of the scheme in...
More »Real rural wages plunge 3.8 per cent in September -Harish Damodaran
-The Indian Express The daily wage rate in rural India for male workers across 25 occupations (12 agricultural and 13 non-agricultural) averaged Rs 331.29 during September, as per field data compiled by the Labour Bureau. Real rural wages growth has fallen to an all-time-low of minus 3.8% in September, further confirming the deep structural slowdown in ‘Bharat’ that is also evidenced in sluggish fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and two-wheeler sales. The daily wage...
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