On June 5th this year, the Stranded Workers Action Network, comprising volunteers from various civil society groups, academics and students enrolled in university education, released its third report entitled ‘To Leave or Not to Leave? Lockdown, Migrant Workers, and Their Journeys Home’. Among other things, the latest report states that nearly four-fifth of migrant workers (out of 5,911) who called SWAN volunteers for help (altogether 821 distress calls were made)...

-Scroll.in Fiscally austere policies will only serve to further escalate the revenue shortfall and debt problems. Several economists and businessmen have expressed their disappointment with the contents of the financial package announced by the government to face the unprecedented economic crisis brought about by the Covid-19-induced lockdown, the suddenness and severity of which had itself surprised many epidemiologists. The callousness toward the migrants and lack of immediate preparation to send them back –...

-Down to Earth Distress among marginal farmers and unavailability of food to migrant labourers has been largely ignored in Union government’s economic stimulus   Agriculture and allied activities are considered ‘essential’ and officially face no restriction to harvest and supply to the market, even in the middle of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. But an agrarian crisis stemming from systemic failures needs to be considered for immediate policy response. The current distress...

-Scroll.in As migrant workers return to the region, the number of cases is rising – as is the backlog of tests. On Sunday morning, June 7, the chief medical officer of Jaunpur district sat in his office, shooting muffled instructions to his staff from behind his N-95 mask. “Arrange 10 mattresses quickly,” he told a man who tentatively stood next to his desk. “We need to prepare 100 beds immediately.” “Why have 25 thalis...

-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...