-TheWire.in Nearly two weeks ago, news broke that a Zomato delivery worker tested positive for COVID-19 in New Delhi. As many as 72 families in the south Delhi neighbourhood where he made deliveries have been quarantined, along with 17 other people he worked with. With the luxury of social distancing not extended to delivery workers, the incident further fuelled the apprehensions and uncertainties that they already were contending with. This was only...
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Excess stocks of the Food Corporation of India must be released to the poor -Jean Drèze
-The Indian Express Jean Dreze writes: Releasing food is all the more crucial as the emergency cash transfers proposed by the finance minister are likely to have severe limitations. How would you feel if a family were to let its weakest members starve, even as the house’s granary is full to the brim? That is what is happening in India today. Everyone knows that the country has large food stocks, and that some...
More »Amartya Sen writes: Overcoming a pandemic may look like fighting a war, but the real need is far from that
-The Indian Express Amartya Sen writes: Tackling a social calamity is not like fighting a war which works best when a leader can use top-down power to order everyone to do what the leader wants — with no need for consultation. In contrast, what is needed for dealing with a social calamity is participatory governance and alert public discussion. We have reason to take pride in the fact that India is the...
More »Covid-19: What can be done immediately to help vulnerable population -Reetika Khera
-IdeasforIndia.in With over 80% of India’s workforce employed in the informal sector and one-third working as casual labour, Covid-19's spread and subsequent unplanned lockdowns, have created economic havoc in the lives of millions. In this post, Reetika Khera puts forward suggestions on what can be done to help people immediately, ranging from cash and in-kind assistance to special measures for migrants in urban areas and urgent health-related measures. The spread of the...
More »Coronavirus pandemic puts India’s informal workers in the firing line - Anuja and Utpal Bhaskar
-Livemint.com * The crisis has led to a mass exodus of migrant labour back to their villages, mainly in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh * From those working in restaurants to those making a living by ironing clothes in the neighbourhood, daily wagers are finding it difficult to make ends meet New Delhi: Ashok Kumar, a 42-year-old carpenter, lives in the Rohini area of the national capital and survives on work that he gets...
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