Although social activists and concerned economists demanded at least Rs. 1 lakh crore to be earmarked in favour of the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), the Finance Minister in her budget speech on 1st February allocated only Rs.61,500 crore to it for the financial year 2020-21. As compared to the fund spent on MGNREGA in 2019-20 (i.e. revised estimate of Rs.71,001.81 crore), the amount set aside for the...
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How e-waste crisis continues to plague informal sector -Vikrant Wankhede
-Down to Earth Over 90% of electronic waste management is done by informal sector workers, most of whom are unaware of their rights Structured management of electronic waste (e-waste) in India is nascent and is mandated under the E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2016. Some of the salient features of the rules include e-waste classification, extended producer responsibility (EPR), collection targets (EPR) and restrictions on import of e-waste containing hazardous materials. E-waste is categorised...
More »Lockdown further impoverishes those who were living on the edges of existence even during normal times, finds a new report
A recent survey that was conducted through telephonic interviews among 1,405 respondents across the states of Delhi-NCR, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Assam, Rajasthan and Jharkhand reveals the precarious conditions of workers nearly 45 days after the announcement of COVID-19 lockdown. The report entitled Labouring Lives: Hunger, Precarity and Despair amid Lockdown tries to understand the extent (and depth) of job loss and hunger 45 days after the lockdown. Hunger and...
More »Lockdown Hit Migrant Workers' Savings, Forced Many to Take Loans: Gurugram Survey -Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar
-TheWire.in The study also showed that most of the workers from far away states wanted to leave at the earliest. New Delhi: A survey of migrant workers in Gurugram, Haryana has revealed that the prolonged lockdown has left most of them without any savings and forced many to take loans. Also, while most of those who hail from far-off states like Assam, Bihar and West Bengal are keen to return to their...
More »Economy’s Clear Signal: Boost Demand, Not Loans -Montu Bose and Sibin Kartik Tiwari
-Newsclick.in The poor need food and money, not more loans. Only demand-side interventions will revive the economy. The Covid-19 pandemic is an unprecedented crisis that almost all countries are struggling to cope with. Like the rest of the world, India is fighting the spread of the disease and its adverse consequences on the health system and its finances. On the economic front, India was already facing a prolonged slowing down. Even before...
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