-The Telegraph Provide emergency ration cards, universalise PDS in rural areas and urban slums, says Dreze India’s foodgrain stocks have never been so bountiful, yet the government is struggling to ensure that no one remains hungry in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic that has sparked an unprecedented emergency involving jobless migrant workers, thousands of whom are stranded away from their homes. Stocks with Food Corporation of India was estimated to be around...
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In this Punjab village, Sikhs are shedding their caste biases during the Covid-19 crisis -Arjun Sharma
-Scroll.in/ India Spend In Qila Nau, Jat Sikhs are sending food to the homes of Dalits, who are not allowed to enter langars or touch vessels in their gurdwaras. Jagjit Kaur, 35, a Dalit resident of Qila Nau village in Faridkot district of Southwestern Punjab, has not cooked a single meal since March 25, when the nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of Covid-19 began. Her husband, a mason, has been left...
More »Lockdown extended: But where are the big bang fiscal stimulus measures? -Radhika Merwin
-The Hindu Business Line In a bid to curb the spread of Covid-19, Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended the ongoing lockdown till May 3. While the move was imperative to save lives, taking stock of the massive impact of the extended lockdown on jobs and livelihoods is equally critical. More importantly, the Centre will have to announce big bang fiscal measures soon, to address the fallout of the virus-induced lockdown that...
More »Coronavirus: MGNREGA jobs crash to 1% of normal -Priscilla Jebaraj
-The Hindu With worksites closed, activists urge SC to ensure wages for all those registered Employment under the Mahatma Gandhi National rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) has collapsed to just over 1% of the usual rate this month due to the COVID-19 lockdown. Activists petitioned the Supreme Court demanding that the government pay full wages to all active job card holders during this time, following its own instructions issued to other employers. Please click...
More »By revealing magnitude of migrant worker phenomenon, COVID-19 points to rural distress -Christophe Jaffrelot and Hemal Thakker
-The Indian Express According to the 2011 census, 3.5 million migrants who moved within the last one year stated economic reasons for migration. The corresponding numbers for the 2001 and 1991 census, were, respectively, 2.2 and 1.4 million. The COVID-19 crisis is affecting rural India at a time when agriculture is already in a precarious situation. The thousands of migrant workers who have returned to their villages since the lockdown used to...
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