-TheWire.in As a fresh spotlight hits India's rural employment programme, two suggestions have been offered to “repurpose” MGNREGA to utilise the additional Labour force that have returned to their villages. Due to the sudden lockdown and resultant job losses, over one crore people have returned to their homes, some walking hundreds of kilometres, others using all conceivable means of transport – buses, trucks, trailers, concrete mixers, Shramik trains, motorcycles, scooters, bicycles, auto...

-The Indian Express The report on money granted for work that was never done and employment that had never been created assumes significance as the state government has launched three schemes under MGNREGA, anticipating work demand from the nearly 5 lakh migrant workers who have returned home after lockdown hit livelihood in cities. Ranchi: A probe into work done under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in a block of...

-TheWire.in It is high time migrant workers were included in the ambit of the public distribution system. The government’s proposal for ‘one nation one ration card’ is a longstanding need for migrant Labourers across the country. The proposed measure will provide workers not only with monthly food entitlements wherever they are living for work, but also improve their nutritional status. Tracing developments in the public distribution system (PDS), it can be seen that...

-The Hindu This is an extreme underestimation, going by the other assessments made by Central and State governments, including Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s estimate of 8 crore stranded migrants. The Chief Labour Commissioner’s (CLC) office has counted over 26 lakh migrant workers stranded across the country, of which 10% are in relief camps or shelter homes, while 43% are in situ at workplaces and 46% are in other clusters. This is an extreme...

-The Telegraph For me, the migrant worker crisis has become a much bigger crisis than Coronavirus, says Emmy nominated newscaster Barkha Dutt’s been living dangerously during the last 74 days. She’s leapt into trucks crammed with scores of migrant Labourers hitching a lift back to their villages. She’s jumped onto a train about to pull out of Bangalore station and talked to migrant workers returning to Uttar Pradesh. She’s struggled into a...