-Hindustan Times Release the consumption survey. And ramp up research The Indian economy is set to contract this year. Economic policy must have two clear objectives. It must do all it can to ensure growth revival. And until that happens, the State must ensure that the poor are able to maintain at least basic standards of living. Achieving these goals requires detailed information about the economy. What were household incomes before the...

-Newsclick.in Meet Siya Ram, president of Dalit Ekta Camp, a JJ cluster in Delhi’s Vasant Kunj colony, an upwardly-mobile residential neighbourhood. The Modi government’s decision to impose a national lockdown, on since 24 March, to check the spread of the Novel Coronavirus has caused tremendous hardship to the poor. Its most lamentable symbol has been the sight of lakhs of migrants fleeing cities to villages, walking or cycling down the highway or...

Preliminary results of an ongoing study by the Centre for Sustainable Employment of Azim Premji University (APU) indicate that the lockdown has had a devastating impact on the livelihood security of the working people. The survey is currently being conducted across the country by the Centre for Sustainable Employment along with civil society organisations. Impact on livelihoods Analysis of preliminary data collected through telephonic interviews between 13th April, 2020 and 9th May, 2020...

-Hindustan Times To enable their return to cities, improve wages, living conditions, safety net. Coercion won’t work Migrant workers are like nowhere people. Yet, they are everywhere. From high-rises to highways, who builds them? It is a silent army of migrant workers, working day and night with no job security, no social safety net, and poor living conditions — yet, theirs are not the names we see on the billboards or the...

-Hindustan Times The government officials quoted the data, released by the Central government-run Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED), to highlight that Chhattisgarh’s purchase has been the highest in the country to alleviate the plight of the state’s poor forest dwellers and tribal villagers, who are dependent on the MFP for their livelihood. Raipur: Chhattisgarh government has announced that it has topped the country in the purchase of minor forest...