-Vikalp.ind.in The unplanned countrywide COVID-19 lockdown has resulted in widespread distress to both principal classes among the rural population namely the peasants and agricultural workers. Peasants suffered in the first place from crop losses due to unplanned lockdown induced delay in harvesting of mechanised crops. Apart from this an additional problem for peasants was the elevated fluctuation in prices (fall in nominal prices more often than not) of both crops and...

-Scroll.in Gestures should not come at the cost of real action. When Narendra Modi announced India’s harsh lockdown starting from March 25 to combat the spread the coronavirus, migrant workers were the worst affected group. Stranded in cities without wages or access to food, hundreds of thousands of people started walking, cycling and smuggling themselves in container trucks and cement mixers to try to get home – a journey that was sometimes...

-The Indian Express It is a cruel irony that after the sacrifice they have been asked to undertake, they don’t even get the safety of physical distancing. Workers have lost hard-won rights, despite labour being the biggest contributor to the Indian growth story. There are no labour-day rallies, celebrations or meetings this year as everyone is under lockdown, fighting the coronavirus through physical distancing. Nevertheless, it is a day for totting up...

-Hindustan Times As migrant workers continue to be the worst-hit owing to the Covid-19 lockdown, the call for re-imagining migrant lives post the pandemic grew louder on May 1, International Labour Day. Various organisations working with migrant communities demanded immediate measures to address questions regarding the livelihood of the workers. “Sending them back home is not addressing the problem. It is a band-aid solution,” said Roshni Nuggehalli, executive director at Mumbai-based NGO Yuva. “The...

-The New Indian Express A majority of migrant workers in Surat and Ahmedabad in Gujarat lack access to urban documentation, showed a report by Aajeevika Bureau, an NGO working with migrant communities. NEW DELHI: A majority of migrant workers in the two major migrant destinations Surat and Ahmedabad in the state of Gujarat lack access to urban documentation, showed a report by Aajeevika Bureau, an NGO working with migrant communities. While Ahmedabad has...