A recent report by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) states that the countrywide lockdown imposed on 25th March, 2020, which was extended for nearly two months in phases, affected the food and nutritional status of vulnerable sections of the Indian population. It says that a programme like the Mid-Day Meal Scheme covers four-fifth of primary-school-aged children in the country that helps in improving not only nutrition but also...
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Supreme Court directs provision of dry rations & food from community kitchens for all migrant workers in the country -Harsh Mander, Anjali Bhardwaj and Jagdeep Chhokar
-Press statement issued by Harsh Mander, Anjali Bhardwaj and Jagdeep Chhokar dated 24th May 2021 We welcome the important directions given by the Supreme Court today for ensuring food security of migrant workers across the country. The SC has directed that dry ration has to be distributed to migrant workers throughout the country by the States under the Atma Nirbhar Scheme or any other scheme found suitable by the States/Centre. Further,...
More »COVID19 in rural India: Shortage of PHC doctors, preference for quacks and high vaccine hesitancy -Sanjana Kaushik
-GaonConnection.com A recent rural survey of 300 respondents in Jhabua, Madhya Pradesh, found 38% respondents preferred quacks for treatment, commonly known as nadi babas. Against 14% registering for COVID vaccination, only 4% went ahead for inoculation. These challenges need to be addressed urgently as the virus has spread in rural India. Sixty five per cent of India’s population resides in rural areas, while only 33 per cent of the health infrastructure caters...
More »A collage of laws that leaves the worker out in the cold -Santosh Mehrotra and Kingshuk Sarkar
-The Hindu The universalisation of social security remains an unfulfilled aspiration in the new code on social security As COVID-19 destroys lives and Livelihoods, an unprepared government has rendered low-paid, informal workers, who constitute 91% of the workforce, totally hapless, pushing them further into poverty. Imagine if these same informal workers had social security (including free basic curative care in public clinics and hospitals, the elderly had old age pensions, the dying...
More »Gujarat's pastoral communities struggling for awareness, infrastructure to combat second COVID-19 wave -Rituja Mitra and Aastha Maggu
-Down to Earth The nomadic pastoral communities cannot afford to remain in their houses even during a pandemic The second wave of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has ravaged Livelihoods of people in urban areas. Its has now quietly started to wreak havoc on the lives of people in rural areas. Across the country, villagers are brushing off symptoms of COVID-19 as seasonal flu. The crumbling health infrastructure fails to provide them...
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