-TheWire.in An RTI query shows that the mid-day meal allowance for Tripura primary school students is less than Rs 5 a day. New Delhi: The BJP Government in Tripura, led by Biplab Kumar Deb, has not provided food to any child under the mid-day meal (MDM) scheme while the schools remained closed during the lockdown, according to documents accessed by The Wire under the Right to Information. Given that a lack of proper...

-Hindustan Times The new guidelines make the testing criteria in Delhi tighter than those issued by the Indian Council of Medical Research on May 18. The Delhi Government on Tuesday released a document underlining its new testing strategy which, counter-intuitively restricts the access to the tests further even as the number of cases in the state continue to grow. The new guidelines make the testing criteria in Delhi tighter than those issued by...

-TheWire.in As a fresh spotlight hits India's rural employment programme, two suggestions have been offered to “repurpose” MGNREGA to utilise the additional labour force that have returned to their villages. Due to the sudden lockdown and resultant job losses, over one crore people have returned to their homes, some walking hundreds of kilometres, others using all conceivable means of transport – buses, trucks, trailers, concrete mixers, Shramik trains, motorcycles, scooters, bicycles, auto...

-The Hindu This is an extreme underestimation, going by the other assessments made by Central and State Governments, including Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s estimate of 8 crore stranded migrants. The Chief Labour Commissioner’s (CLC) office has counted over 26 lakh migrant workers stranded across the country, of which 10% are in relief camps or shelter homes, while 43% are in situ at workplaces and 46% are in other clusters. This is an extreme...

-The Indian Express The report on money granted for work that was never done and employment that had never been created assumes significance as the state Government has launched three schemes under MGNREGA, anticipating work demand from the nearly 5 lakh migrant workers who have returned home after lockdown hit livelihood in cities. Ranchi: A probe into work done under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in a block of...