-TheWire.in The dire situation induced by the nationwide lockdown is now threatening to undo the last few decades of work in poverty alleviation. The outbreak of the novel coronavirus and the subsequent nationwide lockdown measures have accelerated simmering rural-agricultural distress. Migrant workers who have recently returned to their native villages are but another critical dimension of the deteriorating situation. The dire circumstances are now threatening to undo the last few decades of work...

-The Indian Express MGNREGA is not the best instrument to help MSMEs in urban and rural areas. Mixing up its objectives can only lead to chaos with no value addition Newspaper reports suggest that a Group of Ministers (GoM) on employment, whose report is not yet available in the public domain, has made draft recommendations including some on MGNREGA. Their suggestions include merging MGNREGA with skill development programmes and using its funds...

-Newsclick.in Additional funds for MSMEs and MGNREGA are going to create enough jobs, but the economy will remain in doldrums. There has been much mutual patting on the back and self-congratulation, after the Narendra Modi government announced two policy measures that could have a direct impact on job creation. These were: a special credit line of Rs.3 lakh crore for MSMEs (medium, small and micro enterprises) and an additional allocation of Rs.40,000...

-The Hindu The projects, including mining and a highway, were brought up during virtual conferences; but site inspections are ‘a crucial component’ of project evaluation, say scientists Dibang Valley in Arunachal Pradesh has a decidedly other-worldly feel. “Yeh kaunsi duniya hai,” my colleague exclaimed as we climbed the towering mountains — home to the endemic goat-antelope Mishmi takin, the ‘bright-eyed’ butterfly Callerebia dibangensis, and the Mishmi wren-babbler. I had read about the...

-Scroll.in Hundreds have been arrested by the Delhi Police, even as the lockdown made scrutiny and access to justice difficult. On February 24, communal violence engulfed North East Delhi, leaving at least 53 people dead over the next three days, most of whom were Muslim. Exactly a month later, India went under a nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus. Normal life came to a halt – but not...