A recent report by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) states that the countrywide lockdown imposed on 25th March, 2020, which was extended for nearly two months in phases, affected the food and nutritional status of vulnerable sections of the Indian population. It says that a programme like the Mid-Day Meal Scheme covers four-fifth of primary-school-aged children in the country that helps in improving not only nutrition but also...

-Hindustan Times The second wave will deepen inequality. Expand support to states, universalise PDS, and ramp up MGNREGS now Abandoned by the State that insisted on locking down, refusing to recognise the damage done to their livelihoods, India’s workers asserted their rights and made themselves heard by walking home in March 2020. The long march home was emblematic of the suffering and hardship unleashed by the first wave. A year later, it is...

-TheWire.in Can the Union government exercise its sovereignty in extending food subsidies to states during a historic crisis despite an enlarged fiscal deficit? Some states have started responding to the Supreme Court’s directions on ensuring food security, cash transfers and transportation for migrant workers. It is time the Union government steps up. In a suo moto hearing on May 13, the Supreme Court observed that migrant workers have once again been left in...

-The Hindu A monthly cash transfer to informal workers will provide them relief and also revive the economy The majority of India’s working population is today reeling from the impact of multiple crises: a health emergency more ferocious than any in independent India; massive job losses and dramatic declines in incomes from work; and significantly increased mass hunger and worsening nutrition. Many failures The Supreme Court on May 13 directed the Centre and the...

-The Hindu Business Line/ NetworkIdeas.org The disease ripping through the country is only one of the destructive forces affecting the lives of hundreds of millions of Indians. The dramatic increase in hunger is another. Like devastation wrought by the current surge in coronavirus infections, this too is the result of policy failure and official callousness. It is already causing immense suffering among affected people and will have serious repercussions on their...