-TheWire.in Despite the fact that India's financial inclusion infrastructure has a complex mix of self-help groups and small private banks offering credit to the poor, it has failed to deliver during the pandemic. When the pandemic struck, policymakers and prominent economists across the world called for financial infrastructures to be strengthened. They argued this would support the efficient channeling of relief through cash transfers or cheap loans. India was no exception to...
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92% of workers stopped receiving payment from employers: Report
-The Hindu SWAN, which relaunched its helpline in April, releases findings based on over 8,000 callers Bengaluru: Migrant workers, one of the more vulnerable groups left in lurch during the national lockdown called by the Centre last year, are facing another crisis during the second wave of COVID-19. This time around, the problem is compounded by a lack of savings, which they used up last year. Around 92% of the country’s workforce who...
More »Odisha’s forest produce gatherers hit hard -Satyasundar Barik
-The Hindu In the pandemic, there aren’t enough buyers and government procurement is delayed For the second year running, forest dwellers across Odisha have been deprived of the right price for the Non-Timber Forest Produce (NTFP) gathered by them. With the COVID-19 pandemic disrupting local economies across the country, the NTFP market in Odisha has also suffered due to the absence of adequate buyers this year. “Last year, when the COVID-19 pandemic surfaced, forest...
More »India learns a bitter lesson for disregarding crucial warnings and recommendations on Covid-19
In the month of April this year, there has been an unprecedented upsurge in daily new cases and daily new deaths in the country due to Covid-19. States, which reported large increases in daily new cases and daily new deaths, are Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, to name but a few. Data accessed from https://www.covid19india.org/, which is a crowdsourced platform and an independent aggregator of daily Covid-19 figures and...
More »Maternity entitlements are neglected in states like Jharkhand, M.P. and U.P., reveals JABS survey (2019)
The National Food Security Act 2013 guarantees maternity benefit to the tune of Rs. 6,000/- per child by the Central Government for pregnant women and lactating mothers, barring those who are already availing such benefits while being in regular employment with the Central Government or State Governments or Public Sector Undertakings or under other laws. The NFSA 2013 also legally guarantees free meals for every pregnant woman and lactating mother...
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