-The Telegraph Labour ministry weighs proposal for essential goods, economists advise time limit The central government is likely to allow select factories that produce essential items to engage workers beyond the stipulated eight hours a day. The move is aimed at curbing footfall to ensure social distancing at workplaces and also averting a disruption in the Supply Chain of products like grocery items, medicines and processed food. The suggestion for such a step —...

-Hindustan Times Three main factors are driving food prices higher, according to data from the consumer affairs ministry, as well as a dozen agricultural produce market committees (APMCs), which are state-regulated wholesale points. New Delhi: The prices of key staples, barring cereals, have surged nearly three times from a month ago because of a noticeable supply shock amid the three-week nationwide lockdown to fight the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic, according to official...

-Hindustan Times Seema Kulkarni of the Society for Promoting Participative Ecosystem Management (Soppecom), Pune speaks about supporting 500 single and widowed women who do not have ration cards or bank accounts, access food supplies * What is the situation of agricultural village economy in Maharashtra after the lockdown? Maharashtra has been facing an agrarian crisis for some time now. Post-Covid-19 and the lockdown the situation has only worsened. Harvesting operations have come to...

-Livemint.com * A prolonged lockdown will hurt farmers about to harvest the winter crop and the landless living on daily wages * Continued disruption in the food Supply Chain will eventually hit consumers if prices vary widely across regions. This uncertainty has also hit 70 mn households in rural India who own small dairies NEW DELHI: Baburao Sanap has no clue how to pull himself out of a big mess —he’s saddled with...

-TheWire.in While there may be no fears of a shortage, the national lockdown and its implementation have dealt a raw deal to most stakeholders within the system. New Delhi: Ghazipur’s vegetable and flower mandi wears a forlorn look these days. Just a few kilometres from the Anand Vihar Bus Terminal, which was thronged by thousands of migrant workers last weekend, the flower mandi’s business is muted, mirroring to a certain extent the stark...