-Press release by Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha dated by 25th March, 2020 Jharkhand, like most of India, has woken up late to the COVID-19 pandemic and is yet to provide adequate social security to the people. Although no COVID-19 case has been officially reported in Jharkhand so far, this may be a myth since the state has only one testing centre where only a few dozen samples have been tested, according to...

-The Hindu Narendra Modi has announced a 21-day lockdown starting from midnight tonight as a major step in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. During the “containment” period of 21 days from March 25, 2020, the following services Will remain open: * Shops, including ration shops, dealing with food, groceries, fruits and vegetables, dairy and milk booths, meat and fish, animal fodder. District authorities to encourage home delivery to minimise individual movement. * Banks, insurance offices and...

-Press note by NREGA Sangharsh Morcha dated 24 March, 2020 A group of concerned citizens have appealed the Central and state governments to deliver emergency relief to informal labour force, agricultural workers, small and marginal farmers, MGNREGA workers, old-age pensioners, widows, the differently-abled, slum dwellers, the homeless and other such vulnerable communities THRough programmes like National Food Security Act (NFSA), Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), Pensions, Ujjwala scheme,...

-The Financial Express NBFCs are at the forefront of financing many of the affected sectors, notably small road transport operators, taxi aggregators, infrastructure contractors, MSMEs, traders etc. After banks wrote to the regulator asking for moratorium on corporate repayments, their non-banking counterparts have sought a THRee-month moratorium on equated monthly instalment (EMI) payments by their customers as much of the country goes into lockdown mode. Non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) are also asking...

-Livemint.com * The crisis has led to a mass exodus of migrant labour back to their villages, mainly in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh * From those working in restaurants to those making a living by ironing clothes in the neighbourhood, daily wagers are finding it difficult to make ends meet New Delhi: Ashok Kumar, a 42-year-old carpenter, lives in the Rohini area of the national capital and survives on work that he gets...