-Vikalp.ind.in The unplanned countrywide COVID-19 lockdown has resulted in widespread distress to both principal classes among the rural population namely the peasants and agricultural workers. Peasants suffered in the first place from crop losses due to unplanned lockdown induced delay in harvesting of mechanised crops. Apart from this an additional problem for peasants was the elevated fluctuation in prices (fall in nominal prices more often than not) of both crops and...
More »SEARCH RESULT
COVID-19 Crisis: To Help Farmers, Government Must Expand Ambit of PM Kisan Scheme -Gargi Parsai
-TheWire.in Unlike other sectors, a large majority of the farming community do not have any Savings to fall back upon. The COVID-19 pandemic has not only hit manufacturing, services and business but also pushed back the Narendra Modi government’s ambitious programme to double farmers’ income by 2022. From feeding a population displaced, dislocated and frozen in its tracks, to ensuring farmers stay afloat in the coming months, the government has a tough...
More »Covid-19 crisis calls for universal delivery of food and cash transfers by the state -Jayati Ghosh, Prabhat Patnaik and Harsh Mander
-The Indian Express In these dire circumstances, it is essential for the state to directly provide the basic means of survival to anyone who needs it. This must be in both cash and kind. The immediate need for universal food and cash delivery is by now obvious and urgent. Across the country, there are reports of people — migrant workers, local workers, peasants, pastoralists, fisherpeople, vendors, ragpickers, and the destitute — facing...
More »Situation of Gurgaon workers worsened after the announcement of Lockdown 2.0, shows a rapid assessment survey
-Press release by Gurgaon Nagrik Ekta Manch dated 26th April, 2020 A large number of civil society organisations came forward to respond quickly to the lockdown-induced hunger crisis among the informal sector workers in Gurgaon. Gurgaon Nagrik Ekta Manch (GNEM), an organisation working among the unorganised workers, started distributing an average of 350 ration kits per day since 27th March, 2020, the third day of the lockdown, and about 25,000 cooked...
More »How will India emerge out of the lockdown? -G Ananthakrishnan
-The Hindu An opening up has to be accompanied by an increase in relief budget for the most vulnerable After a 39-day lockdown, what will be the shape of things to come? How should one strike a balance between ensuring livelihoods, minimising strife, and maintaining social distancing? In a discussion moderated by G. Ananthakrishnan, Reetika Khera, and Giridhar R. Babu examine the options. Edited excerpts: * With less than a fortnight left for...
More »