-The Hindu Contrary to expectations, the BJP’s appeal among backward classes and the rural poor has petered out The phrase ‘subaltern Hindutva’ was bandied about quite a lot in academic and journalistic circles during the recently concluded West Bengal Assembly election. Many journalists and scholars covering stories from the field had a common account, that a large section of rural poor, backward classes, Dalits and Adivasis had firmly shifted towards the Bharatiya...

-Hindustan Times HT learns that the meeting, attended by several secretaries of the government, saw the minister emphasising the need to focus on positive news. Around 300 top officials of the central government participated in a workshop titled Effective Communications, conducted by Abhishek Singh, the CEO of MyGov, a government platform for citizen engagement, aimed at helping them “create a positive image of the government”, manage “perception through effectively highlighting positive stories...

-The Hindu Households coped with the loss of income by reducing food intake, selling assets, and borrowing from friends, relatives and money-lenders The COVID-19 pandemic has substantially increased informality in employment, leading to a decline in earnings for the majority of workers, and consequent increase in poverty in the country, according to ‘State of Working India 2021: One Year of Covid-19’, a report brought out annually by Azim Premji University’s Centre for...

-IndiaToday.com Nandurbar, a tribal district in Maharashtra, has evolved a model that ensures optimum use of medical oxygen. The district had started planning for its oxygen needs in September last year and has installed three plants since then. Today, it's self-sufficient in oxygen and is supplying the excess to other districts. The term 'oxygen nurse' was coined in Nandurbar, a tribal district in Maharashtra, for its optimum utilisation of oxygen cylinders. Following...

-Press release by Stranded Workers Action Network (SWAN) dated 5th May, 2021 Soon after the lockdown was imposed in 2020, a group of around 100 volunteers formed Stranded Workers Action Network (SWAN). Last year, SWAN responded to distress calls from over 30,000 migrant workers from across India. It connected these workers to local organisations and government officials providing rations, assisted them with their travel arrangements, and distributed over Rs.63 lakhs in...