-The Telegraph Migrant fiasco: Part II unfolds The decision to squeeze some money out of the mass movement of migrants blew up in the Centre’s face on Monday, prompting it to try and shift the blame to State Governments. But the paper trail shows that states were asked to “collect the ticket fare” and hand over the amount to the Indian Railways. This is the second time the Narendra Modi government is finding...

-Down to Earth State forest officials deter Kalahandi district’s village to procure kendu leaves through gram sabha    Residents of Dhanarpur village in Odisha’s Kalahandi district have hit a roadblock in procuring kendu leaves through gram sabhas — one of the most prominent minor forest produce (MFP) in the state.   The Odisha government granted relaxation for collection and harvest of MFPs when the nationwide lockdown was extended for the second time in...

-Hindustan Times The Congress chief said the central government barely gave a four-hour notice of the lockdown, thus denying workers and migrant labourers the opportunity to return to their homes. Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Monday attacked the government for charging train tickets from migrant labourers going back to their homes and announced that her party will bear the cost for the rail travel of all such workers stranded due to the...

-Newsclick.in The lockdown has got the government talking about agri ‘reforms’ again, but the exploitation of India’s weakest farmers continues unchecked. It is a cruel irony that in the sixth week of the nationwide lockdown, the government is talking up omnibus agriculture “reforms” as if they can mitigate the growing distress in rural India. Reforms, no doubt, implies stricter compliance with online registration and payment rules, more focus on market-based pricing, and...

-TheNewsMinute.com Migrant workers in many parts of the country are being made to pay Rs 1000 to Rs 1400 per head to return home. It’s the season for politics over train tickets, even as migrant workers across the country are confused, and struggling to reach home. The BJP on Monday claimed that the Indian Railways has subsidised 85% of ticket fare for special trains being run to transport migrant workers. It’s only...