-The Hindu A regime of social policy must be installed to meet the basic needs of all citizens at all times – not only during pandemics The current pandemic has forced us to think about the plight of workers in our country. While the virus has demonstrated the enormous value of health workers, it has also enhanced public awareness of the pivotal role of migrant workers in our economy. We have been...

-The Indian Express The impact of the lockdown may make social issues more prominent again in terms of class, at the expense of caste as well as religious identities and communal tendencies. When interviewed by journalists, several migrant workers badly affected by the COVID-19-related lockdown admitted that they had voted for the BJP in 2019. Indeed, the party attracted poor voters in large numbers during the last Lok Sabha elections, especially among...

-The Hindu Former Union Health Secretary says the infection has come mainly from those middle-class people who have been abroad and come back to India K. Sujatha Rao served as Union Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for the Indian government, until 2010, where she was involved in the process for a national policy for use of antibiotics, introducing vaccines in public health, and the first-ever national programme for non-communicable diseases....

-TheWire.in Both the government and middle-class society have left the country's migrant workers to their own devices. As citizens bearing equal rights, migrant workers, Dalits, tribals, Muslims and sexual minorities are a substantial part of the modern nation-state. However, the actual story of India’s economic growth has showcased their persistent marginalisation and exclusion. These groups survive in isolation and have often been treated with disdain, mistrust or even as a threat to...

-Vikalp.ind.in The unprecedented fear of Covid-19 leading to ‘social distancing’ through lockdown in the entire India has yet again unfolded the plight of informal sector workers even in the midst of a universal public health crisis worldwide. The lockdown, for a huge number of informal sector workers is associated with the loss of livelihood; but for others engaged in low-valued essential works such as home delivery, scavenging and cleaning the society,...