-National Herald It has requested Union government to notify a wage rate of Rs 600 per day for NREGA workers and allocation of work for 150 days annually for each job card holding individual Flagging issues being faced by crores of MGNREGA workers, NREGA Sangharsh Morcha has requested the Union government to notify a wage rate of Rs 600 per day for NREGA workers and allocation of work for 150 days annually...

-Down to Earth Sri Lanka has found itself in an economic crisis in pursuit of producing 100% organic food   ‘Lankan food crisis shows perils of organic farming’. This was the headline of a column by Indian economist Swaminathan Anklesaria Aiyar column published in a national daily recently. Aiyar’s article analysed the Sri Lankan food crisis, which has been triggered by the President’s recent decision to shift from chemical to organic farming. While the...

-The Hindu Census data in India are losing their relevance in the development agenda India is busy debating the caste census when the regular Census itself has not been conducted owing to the pandemic. It is quite ironic that various elections have been held, and people gathered together at large rallies flouting COVID-19 norms, while the Census has still not been conducted. This is the first time that India has not conducted...

-Down to Earth Cyclones in India, particularly in the Sundarbans, made locals vulnerable to traffickers and drove them into forced labour, the report flagged  Climate change-induced extreme weather events put women, children and minorities at risk of modern slavery and human trafficking. The phenomenon is on the rise in India, among other countries, warned the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and Anti-Slavery International in a recent report.  Modern slavery — including...

The Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households and Land and Livestock Holdings of Households in Rural India (NSS 77th Round), which was released recently, informs one about farm households' income in the crop year 2018-19 and indebtedness in 2019 (as on the date of survey), among other things. Prior to the recent report, Land and Livestock Holding Surveys (LHS) and Situation Assessment Survey (SAS) of Agricultural Households used to be...