-Firstpost.com One of the most telling human stories to result from the COVID-19 outbreak and the resulting nationwide lockdown is that of stranded migrant workers. But theirs isn't a new story; it's taken a pandemic for urban India to take note of an issue that has remained an unseen aspect of the country's economy for much of its contemporary history. P Sainath, founder of People's Archive of Rural India (PARI) and...

Preliminary results of an ongoing study by the Centre for Sustainable Employment of Azim Premji University (APU) indicate that the lockdown has had a devastating impact on the livelihood security of the working people. The survey is currently being conducted across the country by the Centre for Sustainable Employment along with civil society organisations. Impact on livelihoods Analysis of preliminary data collected through telephonic interviews between 13th April, 2020 and 9th May, 2020...

-The Hindu The Azim Premji University COVID-19 Livelihoods Survey also found that 61% of urban households money to buy even a week’s worth of essentials According to the Azim Premji University COVID-19 Livelihoods Survey, about 80% of Urban Workers lost their jobs during the lockdown. The average weekly earnings of those who were still employed fell by 61%. About 80% of urban households consumed less food in April-May compared to February, and 61%...

-Hindustan Times To enable their return to cities, improve wages, living conditions, safety net. Coercion won’t work Migrant workers are like nowhere people. Yet, they are everywhere. From high-rises to highways, who builds them? It is a silent army of migrant workers, working day and night with no job security, no social safety net, and poor living conditions — yet, theirs are not the names we see on the billboards or the...

-Outlook India While nationwide lockdown is unavoidable and is a wise decision to contain the spread of the virus, there is a need to address the possibility of an unintended baby boom among poor and vulnerable groups. With most countries following nationwide lockdown or stay at home orders due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, there has been a debate on a possible unintended baby boom across the world. Although many demographers from...