-The Hindu An immediate universalisation of the PDS, distribution of quality food items and community kitchens are a few solutions “School-er prarthana sabhar somoy hotat matha ghure pore jaoar ghotona hamesai ghotte dekhi amra. Beshirbhag khetrei ora mid-day-meal khete chaay naa, jiggesh korle bole pete byatha hochhe, Sir (There have been numerous instances during the prayer session in schools where we often observe students feeling sick and falling down out of dizziness....

-The Indian Express All indications show that an economic revival will take some time — support is required during this period to at least prevent starvation. The effects of the lockdown and the resultant economic crisis continue to disproportionately impact the poor and informal sector workers. Since the lockdown, the Government of India (GoI) has announced relief packages under the Pradhan Mantri Gareeb Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) and Atmanirbhar Bharat. However, numerous studies...

-Livemint.com * The supply chain disruption in poultry continues, further hurting the nutritional standards of poorer households * The current steep prices of items that make up the retail food basket—be it eggs, pulses or vegetables—is evidently taking a toll on millions of Indian households NEW DELHI: Banks should not advance large loans to farmers, least of all to those in the poultry business, an exasperated Ramesh Mehla said over the phone. He...

-The Hindu The current crisis has provided us with an opportunity to rethink our health, economic and climate policies In the new set of relief measures announced by the Finance Minister, job creation has moved to the forefront. This shows that the government has finally accepted that the unemployment rates are very high, a fact it has so far been suppressing or dismissing. This is a welcome change given its usual ostrich-like...

-IDROnline.org Often the sole source of income for rural households, NREGA has been plagued with issues during the pandemic. Insights from the ground explain why. During the lockdown, an estimated 20 to 30 million migrant workers returned home, out of work and out of money. Some of them tried helping their families with farming and some even used the skills they had developed to set up new enterprises. But most remained jobless....