-The Indian Express In a slew of extraordinary measures, authorities announced a complete lockdown of 75 districts in 22 States and Union Territories and suspended all passenger trains, inter-state buses and metro services across the country till March 31. As the Janata Curfew called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi wound up Sunday with people across the country responding by staying indoors and applauding those working to battle the coronavirus threat, the government...
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The perils of an all-out lockdown -Jean Drèze
-The Hindu If the poor must stay at home, they need income support and essential services As the novel coronavirus spreads, a double crisis looms over India: a health crisis and an economic crisis. In terms of casualties, the health crisis is still very confined (seven deaths in a country where eight million people die every year), but the numbers are growing fast. Meanwhile, the economic crisis is hitting with full force,...
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...
More »Lockdown hits NREGA workers hard -Damini Nath
-The Hindu Support becomes critical as thousands of migrant workers return to villages The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme has been officially shut down in at least seven States, while it is effectively closed in many more, as COVID-19 lockdowns come into effect across the country. Workers’ collectives are demanding relief in the form of wages during the shutdown, payment of pending dues, and extension of the scheme in...
More »No economic task force for COVID-19 yet -Priscilla Jebaraj
-The Hindu Will be set up by PMO or Cabinet Secretariat, says Finance Ministry. Four days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that a task force would be set up to deal with the economic impact of coronavirus (COVID-19), it has yet to be constituted. Although Mr. Modi said the task force was to be headed by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the Ministry says it is not responsible for constituting the body. In...
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