-TheWire.in The dire situation induced by the nationwide lockdown is now threatening to undo the last few decades of work in poverty alleviation. The outbreak of the novel coronavirus and the subsequent nationwide lockdown measures have accelerated simmering rural-agricultural distress. Migrant workers who have recently returned to their native villages are but another critical dimension of the deteriorating situation. The dire circumstances are now threatening to undo the last few decades of work...

-The Indian Express Over 150 years later, amid a pandemic and an economic crisis that has rendered several jobless, as state governments such as Gujarat, UP, Madhya Pradesh and others BRIng in ‘labour reforms’ that, in some cases, have suspended almost all existing labour laws, the historical background of some of these laws provide a useful context. The BRItish brought in the system of indentured labour in 1819 via the Bengal Regulations...

-The Indian Express A blanket suspension of labour laws, as has been in the case of UP, however, may not find favour, with the Centre leaning towards putting caveats in order to protect the rights of bonded labour, children and women. With at least 10 states moving to amend their labour laws ahead of restarting economic activities post the COVID-19 lockdown, an overhaul in the central labour laws is being seen in...

-The Hindu The projects, including mining and a highway, were brought up during virtual conferences; but site inspections are ‘a crucial component’ of project evaluation, say scientists Dibang Valley in Arunachal Pradesh has a decidedly other-worldly feel. “Yeh kaunsi duniya hai,” my colleague exclaimed as we climbed the towering mountains — home to the endemic goat-antelope Mishmi takin, the ‘BRIght-eyed’ butterfly Callerebia dibangensis, and the Mishmi wren-babbler. I had read about the...

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...