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...
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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 »Averting hunger during monsoon calls for bold food security measures -Jean Dreze
-The Indian Express The cash crunch is hindering the state governments’ relief efforts at every step. Centre must urgently provide additional foodgrain to poorest states for expanding PDS coverage. As the monsoon advances, there is an urgent need to consider what can be done to prevent hunger during the rainy season — the hardest time of the year for poor families in large parts of rural India. The monsoon is expected to...
More »‘One Nation One Ration Card’ Could Have Changed How the Pandemic Affected Migrants -Bal Krishan Negi and Seema Bathla
-TheWire.in It is high time migrant workers were included in the ambit of the public distribution system. The government’s proposal for ‘one nation one ration card’ is a longstanding need for migrant labourers across the country. The proposed measure will provide workers not only with monthly food entitlements wherever they are living for work, but also improve their nutritional status. Tracing developments in the public distribution system (PDS), it can be seen that...
More »Hunger Grows as India’s Lockdown Kills Jobs: Results of a Survey from 12 States -Rahul Lahoti, Amit Basole, Rosa Abraham, Surbhi Kesar and Paaritosh Nath
-TheIndiaForum.in The lockdown has devastated livelihoods at unprecedented levels, causing widespread job losses and hunger. The measures so far will not solve the crisis. India should universalise the PDS, expand cash transfers, and create a national job guarantee scheme. The Covid-19 global pandemic and its associated containment measures have taken a heavy toll on economies and societies worldwide. In India, the national lockdown, imposed on 24 March and subsequently extended three times...
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