-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...
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Covid-19 crisis calls for universal delivery of food and cash transfers by the state -Jayati Ghosh, Prabhat Patnaik and Harsh Mander
-The Indian Express In these dire circumstances, it is essential for the state to directly provide the basic means of survival to anyone who needs it. This must be in both cash and kind. The immediate need for universal food and cash delivery is by now obvious and urgent. Across the country, there are reports of people — migrant workers, local workers, peasants, pastoralists, fisherpeople, vendors, ragpickers, and the destitute — facing...
More »Suggested resources to understand the COVID-19 crisis better
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...
More »Ranabir Samaddar, director of the Mahanirban Calcutta Research Group, interviewed by Monobina Gupta (TheWire.in)
-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...
More »Excess stocks of the Food Corporation of India must be released to the poor -Jean Drèze
-The Indian Express Jean Dreze writes: Releasing food is all the more crucial as the emergency cash transfers proposed by the finance minister are likely to have severe limitations. How would you feel if a family were to let its weakest members starve, even as the house’s granary is full to the brim? That is what is happening in India today. Everyone knows that the country has large food stocks, and that some...
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