-The Hindu Food security and farmer welfare are intertwined It is ironic that it took a devastating pandemic to force the government’s hand for long-overdue agrarian reforms. Amendments have been made to the Essential Commodities Act, 1955. The Finance Minister has urged States to dismantle the Agricultural Produce Market Committees. Several long-term changes have been made to the agricultural sector, such as fair pricing and e-trading, along with liquidity measures. The Centre...

-Newsclick.in Meals distributed in anganwadi centres and schools petered out as the Modi government had made no plans for continuing the programmes during the lockdown. The world’s two biggest child nutrition programmes – the ICDS or Integrated Child Development Scheme and the Mid-Day Meal (MDM) programme – run by the Indian government suffered a severe jolt in March and April this year as foodgrain allocated for them was not made available during...

-India Water Portal The time for quick fixes is over; a comprehensive policy overhaul is urgently needed to impede the juggernaut of Punjab's groundwater depletion. Punjab, a small state in northwest India, derives its name from the Persian words panj (five) and āb (water), meaning the "land of five rivers". Ironically, this state is now regularly in the news for its rapidly depleting groundwater levels. The most recent government report on Punjab's...

-Vikalp.ind.in After more than two months of lockdown, when the union and various state governments have decided to initiate economic activities, albeit in a controlled manner, it is still not clear how well the health care system in India is prepared in dealing with the pandemic. A pandemic of this magnitude requires a robust health system with combined initiatives from the public and private sector involved in health care. However, rapid...

-The Indian Express June 5 was World Environment Day. We must strive to preserve our environment better if we want to prevent pandemics like COVID-19 This year’s celebration of World Environment Day — on June 5 — has been different compared to all the previous years, as human civilisation faces one of its biggest crises. The COVID-19 pandemic is larger than the environmental crisis of the 1960s and ’70s, which prompted the...