-The Indian Express What is disturbing is that in the middle of the current crisis some are now calling for a massive downsizing of the PDS and a shift to cash transfers in place of foodgrains. The Public Distribution System has played an important role in providing relief to people in the aftermath of the national lockdown. With COVID-19 cases increasing and the economy continuing to be in a downturn, some corrective...
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Mitigating malnutrition -Dr. Pavitra Mohan and Dr Sanjana Brahmawar Mohan
-IDROnline.org In response to the food crisis created by the lockdown, here’s what anganwadis can do to ensure that children stay nourished in times of COVID-19 and beyond. Two-year old Rameela* lives in Nayaghar, 100 km from Udaipur and 35 km from the nearest town. For nearly three months now, Rameela has received a tiffin every morning, filled with sattu (a porridge made from cereals, pulses, sugar, and oil) and khichdi (a...
More »Crop of ironies -Madhurika Sankar
-The Hindu Food security and farmer welfare are intertwined It is ironic that it took a devastating pandemic to force the government’s hand for long-overdue agrarian reforms. Amendments have been made to the Essential Commodities Act, 1955. The Finance Minister has urged States to dismantle the Agricultural Produce Market Committees. Several long-term changes have been made to the agricultural sector, such as fair pricing and e-trading, along with liquidity measures. The Centre...
More »Out of work, Delhi govt guest teachers selling fruits on cart, repairing bicycles to make ends meet -Fareeha Iftikhar
-Hindustan Times More than 20,000 guest teachers are employed in 1,030 government schools across Delhi. Paid between Rs 1,040 and Rs 1,400 per day, their contracts are renewed every year. New Delhi: An English teacher is forced to sell vegetables on the road; a natural science teacher has set up a bicycle puncture repair shop; and a Sanskrit teacher has returned to his village to work on wheat fields. Many guest teachers working...
More »Will Bihar's Economy Rise to the Reverse Migration Challenge? -Santosh Mehrotra and Baikunth Roy
-TheWire.in Even if up to half of the returned migrants leave the state again, the question of how the rest will find gainful employment is both a political and economic issue. One way of looking at India’s lockdown’s strategy was that it came too early, was the strictest of any country, and is now being done away with at a juncture when cases have not even peaked. The worst is still to...
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