-TheWire.in “If they [sex workers] are ready to risk their lives by throwing social distancing to the wind and risk police beatings, does it not show how desperate they are for food?” said a sex worker. New Delhi: “We cannot even complain against the violence that has been meted out against us,” said Rohini Chhari, an activist working with members of nomadic and denotified tribes in Morena, Madhya Pradesh. “Because the government...

-The Indian Express The Supreme Court's remark came after advocate Prashant Bhushan said the government had shut its eyes to the plight of the migrants and their fundamental rights were not being enforced. While saying that “this institution is not hostage of the government”, the Supreme Court on Monday asked the Centre to reply within a week on a petition seeking direction to authorities to allow stranded migrant workers across the country...

These days a lot many articles, reports, documents, etc. are appearing in the public domain on Coronavirus infection and related issues. An attempt has been made in the present news alert to put together in one place some of the best articles, reports, blogs, webinars, podcasts, etc., which can be useful for our readers. We have divided the resources under various themes for the convenience of our readers and social media...

-TheWire.in Ranabir Samaddar, director of the Mahanirban Calcutta Research Group, speaks about the factors behind the migrants’ desperation to reach home and the dynamics of the visibility and invisibility of migrant labour. With the abrupt imposition of the lockdown aimed at arresting the spread of the novel coronavirus, and prospects of earning a livelihood in cities and urban areas drying up, India stood witness to a mass exodus of migrant workers at...

-TheWire.in The momentary attention to the migrant exodus was overshadowed by other spectacles that were easily perceived as communal, suited to deflect attention and which positioned the state as proactive. We live in a society that significantly values media spectacles. Spread of disease, risk of contagion, and the plight of migrant labourers become worthy of attention only when a spectacle is made. The representations of migrant’s transit and associated tribulation have emerged...