Online teaching was perhaps the most preferred mode (of the policymakers) for imparting education to school children in the last two years when schools faced closures thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was promoted by both the Central and State Governments when mobility almost came to a standstill (or got restricted in comparison to normal times) during the last two years. However, various studies (a list of those studies is...

-The Hindu There are signs that this pandemic has not followed the usual script — of the poor bearing the brunt of the pain COVID-19 has upended Indian society. Over two-thirds of the country has been infected by COVID-19 and perhaps five million or so people have died, directly or indirectly, from the pandemic. The economy too has taken a beating. Even though there has been a V-shaped recovery, output remains about...

-Press statement by the National Coalition on the Education Emergency (NCEE) dated March 17, 2022 The NCEE conducted a rapid households survey of parents in Karnataka, Telangana and Tamil Nadu about their children's education during the pandemic and the main finding of this study is that poor parents are desperate about the education future of their children and fully conscious of the devastating toll that prolonged school closure has taken on...

-Newsclick.in On May 24, 2021, poor tribal peasants were shocked when they got an executive order informing them that the period of land leases given to them in Sirsi Dam foothills was over on March 31, and renewal stood cancelled. Mirzapur (Uttar Pradesh): Talking about tribals and farmers in present day Mirzapur means inviting gloomy stories weaved into everyday sorrows and sufferings. Gone are the days when the areas inhabited by them...

-The Hindu Spells of impoverishment during the pandemic were not infrequent, and lower castes and minorities bore the brunt of it Few observations survive the test of time. Fewer gain significance over time. Engel’s Law is a case in point. A version is that the poorer a family, “the greater the proportion of the total outgo which must be used for food. The proportion of the outgo used for food, other things...