-TheWire.in Informal workers are less likely to be vaccinated due to multiple barriers in the existing vaccination framework. The COVID-19 pandemic and consequent lockdowns have had a devastating impact on India’s informal sector, which employs a vast majority of the country’s workforce. Even as India struggles to extend vaccine coverage amid severe shortage and a deadly second wave, it is critical that this process prioritises the millions of informal workers who are...

-TheWire.in A survey revealed that big peasants, who were among the top lenders to the labourers, gave them loans in the garb of paying low daily wages. Mansa, Patiala (Punjab): A narrow dirt road alongside a filthy pond enters Neelam’s one room house at Aklia village of Punjab’s Mansa district. The house is just a pile of bricks. The floor is muddy and uneven. Neelam, in her 40s, says that whenever heavy rain...

-IndiaSpend.com Many health issues were neglected as COVID-19 hogged global attention in 2020. Apart from the COVID-19 vaccine, what other health issues should be in focus in 2021? New Delhi: COVID-19 demanded the single-minded focus of India's entire healthcare infrastructure all through 2020. In fact, the pandemic hogged so much attention across all aspects of our lives that most other issues of public health were put on the back-burner. Issues such as tackling...

-Mongabay.com * A latest government study has found that mining activities in the coal-rich Tamnar area of Chhattisgarh have put the local population, mainly tribal people, at an increased risk of acute respiratory diseases and tuberculosis. * The study reveals that in the case of tuberculosis, the disease burden rate in Tamnar is nearly double the national rate and almost triple the rate in the state, highlighting the adverse impact of mining. *...

-Hindustan Times Expanding better opportunities with decent wages for frontline workers could also contribute to the revival of the rural economy by putting wages into the hands of many, and take us closer to achieving our health and nutrition goals The unsung heroes of the response to the Covid-19 pandemic have most definitely been the millions of frontline women workers, especially Accredited Social Health Activists (Ashas) who have been working tirelessly at...