-Scroll.in The government subjected the rural job scheme to systemic shocks but must now scale it up to 200 days of work to combat lockdown losses. The impact of the Modi government’s unilateral decision to impose a two-month-long nationwide lockdown has amplified the crisis faced by India’s 50-crore strong unorganised workforce. A potent option at present to cushion some of the blow is the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. The law, which was...

-Newsclick.in Every step in the direction of opening agriculture to global trade – as announced in the three ordinances by the Modi government – is a step towards reducing domestic food availability. The tropical region can grow a variety of crops which either cannot be grown at all, or for much of the year, in the cold temperate regions of the world where metropolitan capitalism is located. These include beverages, fibres, vegetables...

-Livemint.com From an already low base, women’s employment has fallen further, and a recovery will be difficult A clutch of early studies on the impact of the lockdown on employment is showing that women’s employment could be particularly badly hit. Given India’s record low female workforce participation rates, growing child care demands, and a looming recession, researchers fear that women could be increasingly shut out of the productive economy. To estimate the impact...

-Livemint.com There has been demands for linking MGNREGA wage with consumer price index-rural (CPI-R) for an annual revision of wages based on contemporary changes in rural geography NEW DELHI: Odisha’s Keonjhar district administration on Friday said it has become the first in the country to provide higher minimum wages to those taking up jobs under the national rural employment guarantee scheme. In a post on Twitter, the Keonjhar district administration said those working...

-Society for Social and Economic Research Monograph 20/3 Key Messages Lack of planning and preparation by the Central government for tackling the COVID-19 pandemic has dealt a massive blow to India’s economy and has caused enormous hardships to working people of the country. Harvesting of Rabi crops • Unplanned and sudden imposition of the lockdown resulted in a massive and unprecedented disruption to agricultural activities such as harvesting, sale of agricultural produce, and purchase...