-Scroll.in Governments must take this opportunity to revamp their strategies to house migrant workers. On March 24, when the government announced a nationwide lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus, India was served a fierce reminder that its cities are, by design, exclusionary. Millions of workers around the country were left cashless, hungry and in many instances, homeless. Many of them set out for their villages hundreds of kilometres away – on...

-The Telegraph Since 2007, the Bay of Bengal basin has seen at least 15 major cyclones, including Sidr in 2007, Aila in 2009, Phailin in 2013, Hudhud in 2014, Bulbul in 2019 and Amphan this year. Amphan made landfall in the Sunderbans, home to five million people, on May 20. More than 13.2 billion dollars worth of property was destroyed and more than 500,000 people left homeless. An Unesco heritage site,...

-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...

-The Hindu An opening up has to be accompanied by an increase in relief budget for the most vulnerable After a 39-day lockdown, what will be the shape of things to come? How should one strike a balance between ensuring livelihoods, minimising strife, and maintaining social distancing? In a discussion moderated by G. Ananthakrishnan, Reetika Khera, and Giridhar R. Babu examine the options. Edited excerpts: * With less than a fortnight left for...

-The Hindu   New Delhi: When Sunil Kumar Aledia came across a man lying on the road on Wednesday he first mistook him for a dead body. It was only after inching closer that he realised that the person was breathing very lightly, he said. “Paani (water) is all that he kept repeating and managed to say. Then I bought a bottle of water and gave it to him,” said Mr. Aledia, convenor...