-Down to Earth MGNREGA workers across the country on June 29 staged peaceful demonstration, raised demands for higher benefits and wages The nationwide lockdown imposed to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) left Mahatma Gandhi Employment Guarantee Act 2005 (MGNREGA) workers in the lurch. Thousands such workers, facing an economic crisis, have demanded an increase in the annual guarantee of work to 200 days per person. The workers from across...
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All about Odisha’s new credit scheme for 7 lakh landless farmers, a ‘first’ in India -Samyak Pandey
-ThePrint.in Under the ‘Balaram’ scheme, the Odisha government will provide credit worth Rs 1,040 crore to 7 lakh landless farmers in the next two years. New Delhi: The Odisha government has launched a scheme to provide agricultural credit to landless farmers across the state. This is the ‘first’ such targeted scheme for landless farmers in India. Under the ‘Balaram’ scheme the Naveen Patnaik government announced Thursday, Odisha will provide agriculture credit worth Rs...
More »How faith in a forest goddess helps the Sundarbans survive -Dipanita Nath
-The Indian Express The Indian Express looks at how a centuries-old folk theatre form and the worship of a forest goddess has helped the islanders understand the power of nature and the limits to human need in this precarious tide country The Sundarbans is one of the most ecologically vulnerable terrains in the world. Spread between India and Bangladesh, the cluster of islands is picking up the pieces after Amphan, the worst...
More »At the forefront of India’s healthcare system, ASHA workers soldier on — unprotected and poorly paid -Anuradha Raman
-The Hindu Every government health scheme, including the one to fight COVID-19, needs ASHA workers to implement it at the grassroots level. So why can’t they at least be paid on time? If Anita Sharma*, an ASHA worker (or Accredited Social Health Activist), had a Twitter account, she could have tagged @drharshvardhan, the health minister, and introduced herself thus: My name is Anita. My job profile has changed since the coronavirus pandemic....
More »Reset rural job policies, recognise women’s work -Madhura Swaminathan
-The Hindu As India emerges from the lockdown, labour market policy has to reverse the pandemic’s gender-differentiated impact The COVID-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on women’s work, but as official statistics do not capture women’s work adequately and accurately, little attention has been paid to the consequences of the pandemic for women workers and to the design of specific policies and programmes to assist them. A survey by the Azim Premji...
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