-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...

-TheWire.in Food rights campaigners urge Arvind Kejriwal to intervene, simplify e-coupon process, set up facilitation desks at all ration shops, food department offices. New Delhi: Despite the Delhi high court’s recent direction urging the Delhi government to ensure that all fair price shops operated during working hours and distributed public distribution system (PDS) grains, a survey has revealed that only 62% are functioning and only half of them are distributing grains. Following...

-Scroll.in This provides a strong indication that the risk of migrants spreading the infection is low, suggest the study’s authors. When the government on March 24 announced a complete lockdown in an attempt to contain the spread of the Covid-19 epidemic, millions of migrant workers were stranded in India’s towns and cities. Tens of thousands of others started walking or cycling hundreds of kilometres to their villages. Though the lockdown on Friday was...

-Hindustan Times As migrant workers continue to be the worst-hit owing to the Covid-19 lockdown, the call for re-imagining migrant lives post the pandemic grew louder on May 1, International Labour Day. Various organisations working with migrant communities demanded immediate measures to address questions regarding the livelihood of the workers. “Sending them back home is not addressing the problem. It is a band-aid solution,” said Roshni Nuggehalli, executive director at Mumbai-based NGO Yuva. “The...

-The Hindu Citizens must keep themselves informed and push the government to adopt scientific and people-oriented policies The lockdown of the country has had a devastating social impact. A recent survey of internal migrant workers found that 42% did not even have a day’s worth of rations left. The situation in the agricultural sector is also grim. Soon after the lockdown commenced, the Prime Minister apologised for the misery that his decision had...