-The Indian Express There are around 28,000 active arhtiyas in Punjab out of which 50 per cent are the ‘Baniya Arhtiyas’ (traditional arhtiyas), while the other 50 per cent are ‘Zamindar Jatt Arhtiyas’ (mostly farmers’ themselves). Jalandhar: With passing of the Farmers’ Produce, Trade, and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, the arhtiyas (commission agents) of Punjab are set to lose around Rs 1700 to Rs 1800 crore annually in ‘commission’. While the...

-Newsclick.in The plight of the migrant worker exploded as a repeating theme in Puja pandals across Kolkata at a time when the central government made its scandalous declaration in Parliament about its “lack of data” about the number of workers who had perished, evading all its responsibility and obligations. Much ink has been spilt over this past week on this sculptural tableau of goddess Durga and her children as a migrant worker...

-The Indian Express ASER report flags burden of digital inequality on children, and opportunity for government schools. The digital pivot in India’s schooling system risks pushing it into deeper inequality, seven months after schools shut down across the country to tackle the pandemic. A majority of children without access to internet has been thrown into distress — a handful to the point of self-harm, as several reports in this newspaper attest —...

-The Indian Express Baudh’s is a story playing out across the city as the Covid lockdown winds down but small businesses don’t know where the keys to demand are. Mumbai: Their ghar is gone because the rent cannot be paid so the Baudh family has moved to their karkhana whose owner has given them some time to pay. Seated on its floor in a chawl near Juhu Gally, Anant (8), Arpit (6) and...

-The Hindu While the view about the Narendra Modi government’s culpability differs, the anger against the Nitish Kumar government on lack of employment opportunities is all pervasive Purnia/ Kishanganj: Seven months on after lakhs of migrant workers returned to their homes, many on foot, following the announcement of sudden and extended nationwide lockdown, the narrative on the ground in Bihar is divided over religious and caste lines. There are no official figures on...