-Down to Earth Communication between migrant workers, their family members has come to a standstill APRIl 14 usually marks the traditional new year for many communities in India. This year, amid muted celebrations, the Union government launched a system to connect thousands of schools online. This when thousands of migrant workers didn’t have enough money to talk on their phones. Welcome to India’s digital divide — the new, improved post-COVID-19 lockdown version. Amid talks...
More »SEARCH RESULT
Migrant hunger and lockdown games -Amrita Johri and Anjali Bhardwaj
-The Hindu Business Line The government is seen doing very little to mitigate the woes of the thousands of migrant workers who have been pushed to the brink of starvation by the lockdown * Post the Covid-19 lockdown, unorganised sector migrant labourers have been unable to afford even two square meals a day * 78 per cent of workers surveyed said they had less than ₹300 * Economic relief packages such as PMGKY have...
More »PM CARES Fund Won't Be Checked By Government's Auditor, Say Sources -Sunil Prabhu
-NDTV The PRIme Minister's National Relief Fund (PMNRF), which was set up in 1948, is not audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) either. New Delhi: The PRIme Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations or PM CARES Fund, formed amid the coronavirus crisis to be a war chest for national crises, will not be audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), sources told NDTV...
More »The great lockdown gums up animal farms -Sayantan Bera
-Livemint.com * India’s cattle are on an enforced diet, milk’s value is on the slide and chicken farmers are in deep despair * The livestock sector contributes 30% to India’s agricultural GDP and is valued at over ₹9 trillion. Yet, during the lockdown, policy and remedial interventions have largely focused on crops NEW DELHI: Shravan Kumar Yadav often wakes up in the middle of the night these days. The incessant mooing and grunting...
More »Mission Journal: Journalists in India’s Uttar Pradesh say threat of attack or prosecution looms large -Kunal Majumder
-Committee to Protect Journalists On March 26, two days after Indian PRIme Minister Narendra Modi announced a national lockdown to control the spreading of COVID-19, Hindi-language daily Jansandesh Times reported that a tribe in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh state, didn’t have enough to eat due to the sudden announcement and that children were eating grass. The same day, the magistrate of Varanasi district, Kaushal Raj Sharma, sent a legal notice to the...
More »