-The Hindu The government’s tendency to be opaque and blame states is not new Last month, the Code on Social Security; the Code on Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions; and the Code on Industrial Relations were passed in Parliament with little debate. In August 2019, the Code on Wages was passed. The four codes together subsume more than 40 labour laws. The mission statement from the Ministry of Labour and Employment reads:...

-Press Release by Stranded Workers Action Network (SWAN), dated 15th September, 2020 In a recent press release, the Stranded Workers Action Network (SWAN) has revealed that around 971 persons have died during the course of the various lockdowns, as of 4th July 2020. It has also provided the key findings of some recent studies that saw the impact of lockdown and Covid-19 on livelihood security and food security.   To a question...

-The Hindu There is a resonance between Saramago’s literary world and the migrant labour distress in contemporary India The novel, Blindness, by Portuguese Nobel Laureate José Saramago, is strikingly prescient about a sweeping illness. The plot revolves around a mysterious epidemic because of which people suddenly turn blind. The thread It starts with a person driving his car who turns blind while waiting at a traffic signal. He pleads to be taken home and...

-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...

-The Indian Express Centre’s policy of monopolising decisions, socialising economic losses in the wake of Covid-19 has left migrant workers in the lurch The 40-day lockdown was further extended at a time of sporadic expressions of resistance and anger by migrant workers in a few cities. Extreme precarity doesn’t have a singular expression. While some are responding with anger, others are responding with resignation. The severe distress among migrant workers in India...