-RuralIndiaOnline.org With the COVID-19 driven lockdown, Chenakonda Balasami and other pastoralists in Telangana, on the road for months, are finding it difficult to access food and new grazing grounds – or return to their villages Nalgonda, Telangana: “How are you? What are you doing? How many days is this going to last?” Chenakonda Balasami asks his son on the phone. “Is it that extreme? Are police there at our PLAce? Are people...
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India’s seasonal migrants have been invisible for too long. This crisis should be a wake-up call -Rohan Venkataramakrishnan
-Scroll.in This is an important reminder that policies with a 120 million-person hole at the heart of them are flawed. India’s chaotic attempt to go into a lockdown to combat the coronavirus has had an unusual side-effect: it has the attention of the elites, ensconced in their homes during the three-week period, to the plight of the country’s massive migrant labour population. The Central government’s failure to adequately PLAn forced hundreds of thousands...
More »It’s time to end monopoly of APMCs; food majors should be encouraged to procure directly -Rajalakshmi Nirmal
-The Hindu Business Line If mandi boards surpass the agent network and support trade, farmers will stand to benefit immensely This could be the right time for the Centre to nudge States to make their Agriculture Produce Market Committees (APMCs) PLAy a more active role in primary market trade. If the private sector engages in direct procurement from farmers now, the crowding in mandis can be checked effectively. This is imperative in maintaining...
More »Chinmay Tumbe, economist and Assistant Professor at IIM Ahmedabad, interviewed by Seema Chishti (The Indian Express)
-The Indian Express That migrants' health takes a huge beating in this process. That the already-malnourished will suffer immensely, says Chinmay Tumbe. Economist Chinmay Tumbe, author most recently of India Moving – A History of Migration and an Assistant Professor at IIM (Ahmedabad) spoke to Seema Chishti on the many implications of the surging crowds of migrants anxious to go home in the wake of the national lockdown. * Given the sudden rush...
More »Tax dept. asks officers working from home to chase large taxpayers for dues
-PTI/ The Hindu “While the ITBA PLAtform is not available to the officers for discharging statutory functions, it is still possible to follow up the pending collection matters by contacting large taxpayers telephonically/electronically,” IT Commissioner said. A three-month extension in deadlines for tax payment and filing of returns notwithstanding, the Income-Tax Department has asked field formations to contact large taxpayers over phone or email to follow up on pending collections. Rakesh Gupta, Commissioner...
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