-The New Indian Express The poor labourers deposit their ration cards as guarantee for borrowing money to bear treatment expenditure or conduct weddings. KOLKATA: Almost an entire village in Purulia district is starving as ration cards of around 50 families of tribal daily wagers are mortgaged with the local money lenders. The beneficiaries are now being deprived of the free food grains through public distribution system (PDS) as announced by Bengal chief...

-The Indian Express The states must engage NGOs, factories and charities including religious organisations to raise funds for meeting the expenditure on milk, eggs, cooking oil and vegetables, and even soaps and sanitisers. Nearly one-fifth of India’s labour force consists of internal migrants. As per the 2011 census, a quarter of the urban population consists of migrants. These tend to be predominantly male, from the less developed northern states, in the lower...

-News18.com On being asked about facilities like beds, ICUs and ventilators in Kerala to handle patients, Shailaja said, "We have about 1, 25,000 beds for COVID-19 patients as a part of plan A. According to our plan B, we can add more beds in private hospitals, hotels and even schools, if need arises." Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala, the state which reported first positive case of coronavirus in India on January 30, has been putting...

-The Hindu The implications for workers are also manifold in terms of productivity, TRAIning, and overall well-being. The outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and the subsequent work-from-home imperatives and lockdowns have led to significant economic disruptions around the world. As several millions of workers across diverse sectors are asked to self-quarantine, an understanding of the impact of this shift and mitigation strategies becomes critical. The insights from prior studies on the...

-VillageSquare.in With the countrywide lockdown to arrest spread of COVID-19, migrant workers who started returning home from destination sites are caught in borders with scant amenities. Government needs to intervene to ensure safe passage For the last ten days or so, state governments have been announcing movement restrictions and advisories about not moving. The lockdown trial euphemistically titled Janata Curfew was observed on the 22nd of March. TRAIns were stopped from that...