-The Indian Express Beginning May, a huge influx of returning migrants, unable to sustain themselves in locked-down cities, Walking kilometres, starving in trains, reached the succour of home in Bihar. But with no work, and the lockdown affecting the rural economy as well with falling agricultural prices, they are leaving again. Patna: THEY STAND close to each other, bags slung over shoulders, noses pressed against the glass. They watch flights land and...
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The five truths about the migrant workers’ crisis -Alpa Shah and Jens Lerche
-Hindustan Times They are underpaid and overworked, from marginalised communities, sustained by an invisible economy of care If anything positive has come out of the Covid-19 crisis, it is that the world’s most stringent lockdown revealed the plight of the vulnerable Indian migrant labour force. With no work and no way to feed themselves, removed from family support, millions had no choice but to defy the lockdown and return to their villages....
More »Forcing migrants to stay back in cities during lockdown worsened spread of coronavirus, study shows -Pavitra Mohan & Arpita Amin
-Scroll.in A doctor looks at the pattern of Covid-19 cases in Rajasthan. On March 25, India went into a nationwide lockdown that had been imposed with only four hours notice. The clampdown on travel resulted in millions of migrant workers being trapped in cities that, even at best of times, are hostile to their needs. Faced with starvation and separation from families, lakhs of workers started Walking or cycling hundreds of kilometres back...
More »Can MGNREGA Be Reshaped and Reoriented to Help India's Farmers? -Siraj Hussain and Jugal Mohapatra
-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...
More »One in every four in rural India unemployed, urban joblessness at 1-month low -Prashant K Nanda
-Livemint.com * Rural unemployment rate has been growing for the last couple of weeks despite rural economy opening up gradually * Economists believe despite the opening up of the economy, it will take time for unemployment situation to come back to the pre-covid time NEW DELHI: India’s rural unemployment rate climbed to 25.09% in the week ended 24 May from 22.79% in the previous week, while urban unemployment rate declined by over four...
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