-TheWire.in From employment and wages to vaccinations, Indian women are disproportionately bearing the brunt of the pandemic. The coronavirus pandemic is not only making it harder to achieve gender equality in India, but also reversing gains made so far. Men everywhere are more likely to be employed and earn higher wages compared to women. In developed countries, the division between employed (working for wages) and out of the labour force (not working...
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India's Large Informal Workforce Must Be Prioritised in Our COVID-19 Vaccine Strategy -Divya Ravindranath and Vikas Kumar
-TheWire.in Informal workers are less likely to be vaccinated due to multiple barriers in the existing vaccination framework. The COVID-19 pandemic and consequent lockdowns have had a devastating impact on India’s informal sector, which employs a vast majority of the country’s workforce. Even as India struggles to extend vaccine coverage amid severe shortage and a deadly second wave, it is critical that this process prioritises the millions of informal workers who are...
More »40% MGNREGA wage payments for April, May still pending -Priscilla Jebaraj
-The Hindu Centre taking 26 days to clear payment orders generated by States: study Almost 14% of MGNREGA wage payments from April are still pending more than a month later, while 60% of May payments are also pending, according to scheme data. A recent study of the MGNREGA wage transactions in Jharkhand shows that while the States are generating fund transfer orders without delays, it is the Centre which is dragging its...
More »Govt. has an active role to play during the pandemic in terms of nutritional support, education & jobs, says IFPRI report
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...
More »A collage of laws that leaves the worker out in the cold -Santosh Mehrotra and Kingshuk Sarkar
-The Hindu The universalisation of social security remains an unfulfilled aspiration in the new code on social security As COVID-19 destroys lives and livelihoods, an unprepared government has rendered low-paid, informal workers, who constitute 91% of the workforce, totally hapless, pushing them further into poverty. Imagine if these same informal workers had social security (including free basic curative care in public clinics and hospitals, the elderly had old age pensions, the dying...
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