-TheWire.in Even if up to half of the returned migrants leave the state again, the question of how the rest will find gainful employment is both a political and economic issue. One way of looking at India’s lockdown’s strategy was that it came too early, was the strictest of any country, and is now being done away with at a juncture when cases have not even peaked. The worst is still to...
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How China Reduced the Urban-Rural Economic Chasm – and How India Can Do it Too -Mahesh Uniyal
-TheWire.in Unlike China which supported productivity-enhancing R&D investments, India’s focus has been on politically-driven subsidies that mainly benefit large farmers. We saw the trailer two years ago. TV news visuals of the plight of thousands of rural poor marching to Mumbai shocked the relatively affluent residents of India’s financial capital. The March 2018 Maharashtra farmers’ march and now the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown-triggered migrant exodus has exposed the stark duality of India – an...
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 »The Peshwa’s tax holiday: How the Mughals and Marathas dealt with distress migration -Mario da Penha
-The Hindu Diverse regimes in Early Modern India often saw the distress migration of rural inhabitants when, much like today, displacement became the forced choice between hope and hunger The scale of the migrant labourer exodus from the precariousness of cities to the security of their home villages has few parallels in Indian history. Economist Chinmay Tumbe estimates that by the end of May, no fewer than 30 million Indians had moved...
More »Contours of post-Covid economy suggest a new framework of employment -Ashish Kundra
-The Indian Express The current crisis should force a discussion on the levels of social protection which should be available to gig workers including wage protection, health benefits and safety assurance. COVID-19 has induced a domino effect in the global job market. A few days ago, a strange message landed in my LinkedIn inbox: Desperation was written all over the poignant plea for a job opening. Jobless since March, with an aged...
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