-Vikalp.ind.in The spread of COVID-19 and the subsequent lockdowns in India since the last week of March 2020 have put not just people’s health concerns at the forefront, but most of the economic and social sector activities are at halt. Amidst the virus spread and subsequent lockdowns, schools, colleges, universities (educational institutions) are closed without completing the academic calendar year. To deliberate on teaching and learning processes and research activities in...

-The Indian Express Privatisation does not make a self-reliant nation. A decentralised, people-centric approach to development will help Mahatma Gandhi’s conception of self-reliance was of simple living and self-sufficiency. The basic idea was to use local resources and a local workforce for the production of commodities for local consumption to the extent possible, with minimal dependence on the outside world. But the Indian government’s clarion call for “Atmanirbhar Bharat” (self-reliant India) has...

A recent survey conducted by National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP) -- a Delhi-based non-profit organisation -- shows how persons with disabilities in the country were disproportionately affected by the COVID–19 crisis. The report by NCPEDP has observed that persons with disabilities, particularly those from economically deprived sections, went through severe hardship during the lockdown. Without sufficient access to food or money, many of them faced hunger...

-The Hindu The interest of each and the interests of all now coincide, not only within nations but for all humanity How will it all end? Policies to address the worldwide crisis brought about by COVID-19 must satisfy three criteria. First, they must aim to minimise the loss of life directly resulting from the disease, while recognising that there remain deep uncertainties about its true nature. Second, they must restore the elements of...

-TheWire.in A market economy is not an automobile that can stop and restart at the touch of a button. When Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a total lockdown of the country to fight COVID-19, he did it perhaps with one idea in his mind. The spread of the virus had to be stopped first, no matter what it cost the economy. A trade-off between saving lives and saving incomes was unavoidable and...