Impact on poor
So after the Covid lockdown, have most of the migrant laborers returned to work outside Bihar?
“Oh no, no! For the first time in my life it seems that the village has been populated. Over the years the boys and men of the village have returned to the village and are mingling with each other here. Now you will say that it is a matter of great happiness, but our village, which looks populated from outside, is miserable from inside. The reason for this misery is unemployment. For how many days can one feel good in the village with unemployment? Tell me?” asked Afzal Ali.
It was a question posed to us as reply to our question. Pankaj and I stared at each other. The village is full of people and there is much joy visible but the families are helpless, what kind of contradiction is this?
It turns out that most of the people of the village have been here for two years, because most of them have not been called to work in the big cities as yet. Many are still scared that their condition may become similar to that during the Covid lockdown – they may be trapped in the city without any support system to take care of them!
“If 40 people returned to the village, there were only ten among them who had managed to return to the city for work. The rest are sitting around in village jobless” says Afzal.
The MGNREGA scheme, also known as the ‘100 days guaranteed employment’ scheme was meant to ensure that ‘every hand gets work with full wages’. So, what is the status of MGNREGA in this village?
Pankaj Ram provided the answer. He said, “How can people live on the basis of MGNREGA, sir? Low wages are also one of the reasons why MGNREGA does not attract people anymore. On top of this the local panchayat can’t even generate 100 days of employment for the laborers in a year, that’s why people have also stopped asking about it. People would prefer to work instead of sitting empty handed but MNREGA work is simply not available”.
16/06/2022
So after the Covid lockdown, have most of the migrant laborers returned to work outside Bihar?
“Oh no, no! For the first time in my life it seems that the village has been populated. Over the years the boys and men of the village have returned to the village and are mingling with each other here. Now you will say that it is a matter of great happiness, but our village, which looks populated from outside, is miserable from inside. The reason for this misery is unemployment. For how many days can one feel good in the village with unemployment? Tell me?” asked Afzal Ali.
It was a question posed to us as reply to our question. Pankaj and I stared at each other. The village is full of people and there is much joy visible but the families are helpless, what kind of contradiction is this?
It turns out that most of the people of the village have been here for two years, because most of them have not been called to work in the big cities as yet. Many are still scared that their condition may become similar to that during the Covid lockdown – they may be trapped in the city without any support system to take care of them!
“If 40 people returned to the village, there were only ten among them who had managed to return to the city for work. The rest are sitting around in village jobless” says Afzal.
The MGNREGA scheme, also known as the ‘100 days guaranteed employment’ scheme was meant to ensure that ‘every hand gets work with full wages’. So, what is the status of MGNREGA in this village?
Pankaj Ram provided the answer. He said, “How can people live on the basis of MGNREGA, sir? Low wages are also one of the reasons why MGNREGA does not attract people anymore. On top of this the local panchayat can’t even generate 100 days of employment for the laborers in a year, that’s why people have also stopped asking about it. People would prefer to work instead of sitting empty handed but MNREGA work is simply not available”.
16/06/2022
Is Poverty Coming Down?
Ulka Mahajan https://youtu.be/_4nXmmcQjZQ set the Keynote to the press Conference to present the preliminary result of the Hunger Watch II Survey along with the recommendations to ensure universal access to food and expanded entitlements.
Ulka asked people to examine how the notions of "ease of doing business" and "New India" has impacted the toiling people of this country
The Universe is Vulnerable People
Household Survey - Post 2nd COVID Wave of Vulnerable People https://youtu.be/Qw5AwICKk8Y Mukta tell us about the selection of already vulnerable people slected for the second wave of COVID as well as lockdown spelt disaster. The sample over 17 districts will be sufficient to tell us whether the stories of destitution we hear, are isolated case and whether the phenomemna calls for policy and administrative sensitivity, which go beyond macro-economic analysis that are being brandies about these days to justify and gloss over the essense of the social contract between State and Ctizens.. with special attention/disdain for the most vulnerable.
Social Findings
Post 2nd Wave Findings of Household Survey of Vulnerable people: Mukta Srivastava https://youtu.be/Tr_m83VH4Uk
the big concerns as per Hunger Watch II?
● Income shock:
● Outstanding Debt:
● Unpaid Rent:
● Poor food intake:
● Poor diet quality:
● Access to Government Programmes:
Government Schemes
Ulka Mahajan on Access to Government Schemes, and their Effectiveness post 2nd COVID Wave https://youtu.be/Qw5AwICKk8Y (4 mins)
Ulka Mahajan presented the Surveys assessment of the Access to Government Programmes. She said Some government schemes seem to have performed well. Safety nets like PDS have been a great relief for poor communities. 86% of the households received ration from PDS. Overall in the state 14% of the eligible households could not receive ration due to technical issues, cancellation of ration cards etc. Although about 90 % of eligible HH reported that they received ration under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) yet only 61% HH reported that they received ration under PMGKAY every month. In urban areas only 50% HH received ration under this scheme every month as compared to 70% in rural areas.
Summary & Demands
Nitin Kubal of Anna Adhikar Abhiyan , Maharashtra https://youtu.be/k9QLPTmvJ8M Summarised the Findings, and spelt out the minimum demands.
Important in time of emergency and distress that the State is does not make make matters worse for affected peopleby being legalistic about rules and procedures, as they have shown by cancelling a few ration cards, and not making arrangements for extra cash flow for basic development and food security programmes.
From the Ground
Utsa Khan https://youtu.be/RzO79PMSIO8 tells a story of a COVID widowed woman in a Chembur slum, who went into mental depression as she could only see destitution with her three kids. She didnt even get the ration nor water. We have to go house to house to understand and be able to do something about such situations. State should see what can be done for children orphaned due to COVID.. Since they cannot work and earn a living.. as minors,
Yasmin from Awaz e Miswan https://youtu.be/Vn_AqbdZt1k their organisation took up the areas of Kurgain and Mumbra for survey under the Anna Adhikari Abhiyan Survey. In the muslim areas, we have seen that people doing small business like rickshaw driver or people who would put up small boxes to sell on the roads, had been totally without work during the lockdown. And since most people ie 80% live in rented accommodation, did not have any income in order to pay their rents. Even the so called landlords who rented out part of their premises, became vulnerable.
Mukta Srivastava: https://youtu.be/tpHE6JU5wRE What statistics wont reveal.. Mukta deviates from the power point to tell us what we didnt realise.. that when push comes to shove, many middle class strugglers also join the struggle.. ! Result Bhimnagar Rag Pickers could not get good waste to pick..
Anna Adhikar Abhiyan Maharashtra , its associates and friends and Right to Food campaign launched a ‘Hunger Watch II’ in December –Jan 2022 to track the situation of hunger amongst vulnerable and marginalized communities in different parts of Maharashtra in the context of the COVID pandemic. The study was conducted in 17 districts of Maharashtra,
see NDTV Report on the Survey: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lo9BIAjs42o
एक तरफ प्रधानमंत्री देश में गरीबी कम होने के दावे कर रहे हैं वहीं महाराष्ट्र में हुए एक सर्वे में सामने आया है कि लॉकडाउन के दौरान बेरोजगारी बढ़ी और लोगों का वेतन कम हो गया.
जिससे गरीबी और अधिक बढ़ गयी.
View in marathi - https://epaper.loksatta.com/m5/3501304/loksatta-pune/09-06-2022#page/7/1 This article was published in Marathi newspaper 'Loksatta' on 09/06/2022
" "या भुकेचे करायचे काय?" - उल्का महाजन
The first and second waves of the Covid pandemic in India saw health personnel in both government and private hospitals risking their lives to save patients, often working late hours day after day. For this, the Indian public will always remain indebted to them for their selfless service.
However, the stories of Covid patients being fleeced by private hospitals that are now emerging are enough to put all of humanity to shame.
“The pain caused by living is more than that of dying. Life has become harder in middle age than the end of life.” These were the sorrowful words shared by Sakharam Shinde, 62, a Covid patient who returned home from a private hospital last year.
A retired teacher of a government school in Kolhapur, Shinde had spent all his savings during hospitalisation. According to his family members he alleged that the bill that the hospital had given him in the name of treatment was not justified. The capital which he had saved for the future of his children and family, had to be given to the hospital. Within a few days after coming home he died due to weakness.
Many such tales of exorbitant hospital charges bankrupting and breaking the spirit of Covid patients are now emerging through complaints filed by non-government groups in Maharashtra with the state administration. The groups are actively participating in the audit process with the victims and in some places, district and tehsil level officers of the government are also playing an active role in public interest.
Have is a look at some of the cases of complaints against private hospitals charging exorbitant bills. Identities of the patients have been hidden to safeguard their interests.
Case One: “I am a professor in a private college. I was getting only half salary at the time of the Covi lockdown. It was becoming difficult to run a family with this incoe. So, at the same time we were doing other income generating work. In the second wave my close friend died. I too got Covi. At the beginning my treatment was done by the doctors of the village. But, later my condition became serious. My father, brother and friends had to struggle hard to get an oxygen bed for me. With no improvement in health, the cost increased. Family and friends together deposited Rs 5 lakh. It’s true, I got healed, but a mountain of debt hit me. I came to know that many people had complained about the private hospital overcharging. I also complained, but the hospital refused to return the money. Instead, I was called by two doctors, they told me that they saved my life and now I am withdrawing the money from their pockets. They created emotional pressure. I insisted on my complaint. Seeing this, they took the help of some goons. The goons first called me and then threatened me at home. At the same time, with the help of tehsil, district and state level organizations, I kept fighting my case with truth. In the end, the hospital had to return Rs 79,000.”
Case Two: “I am left alone with my child. My in-laws have already broken up with me. I live in the room next to my mother. I run a small grocery store. My brother helps in everything. I don’t go out alone. We tried very hard to save my husband from Covid. But, he died. I was left with the debt of hospitalisation.
Some good people helped us. We sent them the bill on WhatsApp. They said that the hospital has taken an additional Rs 12,000 from me. On their request, I went to the government office the next day with the bill. Government officials have issued notice to the private hospital. The hospital said they did not charge extra. Then those good people contacted the authorities and explained to them the rules and regulations of the government. They told the officials that the husband of this woman had died leaving behind a small child. I fought too. When the authorities again sent the notice, the hospital people returned Rs 12,000.
Case Three: “ Dadi (Grandma) was admitted first with Covid and then Tai (Aunt) also started having trouble. Both were in the hospital. Grandmother died. We were looking after Tai’s two young children. Tai’s condition was getting worse day by day. Changed three to four hospitals. I ran out of money to pay the bills. Nobody gave loan. The mortgaged fields were the only source of livelihood for the family. I also got Covid. We were at home in Shirur in Pune district and Tai was at Hadapsar hospital in Pune. We sold land and kept sending money over the phone. One day the phone rang. Tai had made us all orphans. Now Grandma, Tai and the land – all are gone.
I met many such people inside the hospital. Many people who could not save the lives of their loved ones in spite of all their efforts were scared and angry. They have become dependent, indebted. Someone came to the hospital with his mother, someone was sitting with his children. The wife, who had lost her husband, was telling the hospital people that she spent lakhs of rupees to save her husband’s life. Husband is no more. Now give me my money back.”
In May 2020, the Maharashtra government had issued a rate control order on 80 per cent of beds for treatment of Covid in private hospitals under the Disaster Management Act, 2005. In some districts, auditors were appointed by the District Collector and Municipal Commissioner for compliance. In the districts where there was public awareness about the rate control order, a demand was made to conduct an audit of the cost of Covid treatment before sending the patient home. Some hospitals charged money according to the order, while some collected huge bills in the name of various types of treatment. The common man endured all this, because it was his feeling that his patient should be saved. All these scams have left many families in debt and homeless. Farmers became agricultural labourers. In some districts, government officials expedited the audit work, but in others efforts were made to evade responsibility.
Who will stop private hospitals from duping patients in such a dire situation like the Covid pandemic period? Taking lessons from the experience, the government should at least bring such unregulated hospitals under control. A firm step should be taken to provide free and quality health care to the citizens.
Shirish Khare has been associated with rural journalism for a long time and has been continuously reporting on the economic, social and health impacts of rural life during the Corona pandemic.
Since March 2020 the Covid pandemic has created great misery around the country, whether due to repeated lockdowns or the havoc wreaked by the second wave in May last year. However, during this dark period there were also some positive stories to tell.
One of them is from Danavav village, situated in the foothills of Mount Abu, in Sirohi district of Rajasthan. Here, around 40 women tribal farmers ended the village’s age-old drinking water problem during the lockdown. These women farmers have dug ‘beris’ or small natural water tanks at different places in the village. This has provided drinking water to at least 500 people of the village.
By Madhav Sharm
01/04/2022
https://countercurrents.org/2022/03/rural-and-urban-women-hit-hardest-by-covid-induced-unemployment/
The case of the ‘missing women’, i.e. women dropping out employment, that has worried political observers and demographers, so abjectly brazen and transparent, is one such example. The consulting firm, Dalberg, in a rare survey, discovered that almost 43 per cent of the labour force of women had simply disappeared from the unorganised informal economy. In terms of labour force participation, even in the capital of India just about 5 per cent female labour force was participating in the market as compared to almost 60 per cent of men.
At the current rate, it is possible that almost 140 million people have no jobs, and this includes professionals in the affluent corporate sector in urban areas. Unemployment has sharply risen to almost 12 per cent in recent times due to the pandemic and its devastating consequences. The Centre has left the people to their fate, even while the states have been given the sole responsibility to handle the current crisis.
A survey by the Pew Research Center discovered a ‘deep recession’ in 2020; the middle class had stunningly depleted by 32 million, pushing them from their reasonable comfort zones into the hard margins of low income groups. Almost 75 million people have fallen into poverty in India, mostly migrant and unorganised labour, a majority of them without fundamental rights, while most of them are Dalits, adivasis and extremely poor Muslims. Of these people on the margins, the majority are women, invisible, ghettoised, and now compulsively pushed outside the economy. Just about 19 per female workforce have jobs in the current scenario, while almost 50 per cent have been rendered jobless. They constitute the large number of unaccounted missing women.
04/03/2022
https://countercurrents.org/2022/03/boatmen-pushed-to-the-brink-by-covid-in-up/
The economy of the impoverished Mallah or boatmen community living in various villages of Shamli district of Uttar Pradesh (UP) received a major jolt during Covid times. Many are stuck in a non-ending cycle of debt or have lost their precious valuables to local lenders.
by Seema Sharma
01/03/2022
Unpaid salaries, low budget allocation plague mid-day meal scheme in UP in COVID Response Watch — by Kumudini Pati — 14/02/2022 https://countercurrents.org/2022/02/unpaid-salaries-low-budget-allocation-plagues-mid-day-meal-scheme-in-up/
The MDM Scheme-background
The Mid Day Meal Scheme is a central government scheme under the HRD Ministry, which had been started initially in 1995 to provide nutrition to growing children, to encourage enrolment in schools as well as decrease the dropout rate, especially of poor children and girls. The scheme was created under the Ministry of Women and Child.
Only dry rations were being given in most of the states till 2001, except in Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Orissa, Kerala and some parts of Madhya Pradesh, where hot cooked meals were being served. Allocation for the scheme was provided for in the 2004 budget and its implementation began in 2005. It is the largest scheme of its kind, providing one nutritious meal for children of school going age in government schools or government aided schools and madrasas. 60% of the cost of running the scheme comes from the Central government while 40% comes from the State government. There are monitoring committees at all levels right from the centre up to the village level to see that the scheme is implemented properly. Yet the scheme is ridden with too many problems.
“When we have been ourselves suffering, what can we do for the children? It is this that corrupts many. We have been demanding the status of government employees since long, because we can be thrown out without any valid reason anytime” Neelam told Covid Response Watch.
According to her they wanted increase in pay to 10,000 per month and salary for 12 months as well as payment within the first week of every month.
“Till now our honorarium was Rs.1000 and only since last year we got a paltry increase of Rs.500. So effectively we get only Rs.50 per day. That also is given for 10 months and is often delayed. Can we manage with Rs. 1500 per month? This is just a token amount, like a bakshish (tip), not even equal to the minimum wage.”
The MDMS cooks complain that they are never given a bonus during major festivals like Holi and Diwali. Last year they could not even celebrate Diwali because payments were pending. Moreover, in some areas of Allahabad, for example, in Jhunsi, many quarantine centres had been set up for Covid positive people and the MDMS cooks had to prepare and deliver food to them. They should have been given extra remuneration for that, but since schools were closed, no money was given.
Neelam says people working for MNREGA get Rs.202 per day. “We spend 7-8 hours not only cooking, but even dusting the benches and windows, sweeping the classrooms and verandahs, doing small errands for the teachers and cleaning the vessels before we leave. There have been cases in the state where cooks have had to clean the washrooms. My sister cooks for a family of 4 and gets a salary of Rs.6000 plus festival bonus”.
“The government doesn’t even heed the order of the High Court” she says.
By Kumudini Pati
The Basor community of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh are still reeling with the losses of the pandemic as it brought their business – making household items of bamboo – to a screeching halt. Depending upon benevolent supporters and NGOs for ration, the members of the Basor community, today have no alternative livelihood.
The popularity of plastic in the last 2 decades had already hampered their business as people made the big switch to using plastic baskets, boxes etc. much sooner than the community had time to innovate. Now with bamboo becoming more expensive, and the Covid pandemic snatching away all remaining opportunities of business, people of the Basor community are struggling to survive.
Phool Bai Basor, a bamboo artisan in Putrichhua village of Satna says that she is able to finish only 2-3 small baskets or 1 big basket per day, as everything is done by hand. But when she goes to the marketplace, she has to settle for a low price for her hard work as people prefer cheaper plastic items.
“Since the last decade, sales have gone down as people like to buy plastic products. They are cheaper and more durable. Wedding season is the time when we are able to do good business as many people buy these baskets and ‘supa’ (winnowing fan) to present fruits and gifts to the in-laws and guests. But with the pandemic weddings have also become smaller so since the last two years we have hardly made enough sales to buy bread,” she lamented.
Gulab Chandra Basor, state president Delhi, of the Akhil Bhartiya Basor Samaj Vikas Samiti says the condition of the people in Basor community is deteriorating and the pandemic made matters worse for them.
“The people of the community are uneducated and poor. They do not even have proper documents or ration cards. It was because of the NGOs and some social workers that they were able to survive the pandemic when they provided these families with food and cooking oil, else they would have starved. Many of them do not even have ration cards so they were unable to get the free ration from Public Distribution System (PDS),” he said.
Now that the lockdown has ended, the high price of bamboo is proving to be a big obstacle for the community members.
“Cost of bamboo is sky rocketing. The artisans whose livelihood depends upon making bamboo items are barely able to feed their families. They are facing several challenges from purchasing costly bamboo to selling the items in the market at low prices. It takes a lot of time and effort to cut and shave the bamboo and then they start making the desired items, but their hard-work is not able to fetch them enough money to sustain,” he said.
Giving an estimate of the cost of the raw materials, he said that while the bamboo purchased from government vendors costs around Rupees 20 for a 10 feet long bamboo, the same costs Rupees 80 to Rupees 100 from private vendors.
“Bamboo in government nurseries is short in supply so most artisans have to turn to private vendors to buy bamboo for making these items. If they purchase 10 bamboos of 10 feet each, they have to spend Rupees 1000/- . After all their hard work in cutting and shaving the bamboo and then making baskets, supda, mats etc they have to sell the products at low costs to compete with the plastic items and are hardly able to make Rupees 2000-2500 in a week to 10 days. This is far less than the minimum wage and they are unable to provide for their families with such little money. They are hand to mouth,” he said.
Vijay Kumar Kundalekar, member of the Akhil Bhartiya Basor Samaj Vikas Samiti added that the pandemic created many more problems for the artisans after markets closed down due to the lockdown.
“All the markets were closed and all the public transport that allowed artisans from remote villages to go to cities to sell their products had stopped. They could only sell their items in the local village market where they did not get good rates. Even now when the markets have opened, they are still trying to make ends meet,” he added.
Uday Mahobia, resident of Chattarpur said that the people in his community are trying to recover from the problems the lockdown brought but if the third wave hits, he is not sure how they will bear a new blow to their livelihood.
“The condition was really bad. Many children have become malnourished because of eating plain rice with salt or plain chapatis without any dal or curry. People in this area are living in abject poverty and even on a good day, having three square meals is like a dream for them” Mahobiya said. “If the third wave strikes, they will be the worst hit.”
Members of the Akhil Bhartiya Basor Samaj Vikas Samiti had written to the central and state governments to provide some relief packages and provide the artisans with unemployment benefits to help them get back on their feet.
“We have appealed to the government but haven’t received an answer. Basors all across the country live below the poverty line and are discriminated against by the higher castes. They are denied opportunities and sometimes are also shooed away from public hand-pumps and temples. Their condition is dire and the social evils add to their woes. I request the state and central governments to address their needs and provide them with more employment opportunities so that they can have better lives,” added Basor.
Kundalekar further said that because of social discrimination and loss of livelihood, youngsters of the community are giving up their traditional livelihood and opting to work as labourers or migrating to cities in search of menial jobs.
“The youth do not want to carry on this tradition as they have seen their parents struggling to provide them two square meals a day. Many have started working in the fields under big farmers where they make a minimum wage, while some have started working as cleaners and waiters in cities. The Basors are not aware of several government schemes due to the high rate of illiteracy and so are unable to benefit from them. If this continues, we will lose this traditional art forever,” he added.
Shuchita Jha is a Bhopal-based freelance journalist
https://countercurrents.org/2021/10/covid-woes-of-mp-and-ups-bamboo-basket-making-community/
Impact of the #Covid-19 Pandemic on Tribal Livelihood https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fm8ZHaMWys
Oct 24, 2021
From a slump in sale of forest produce to stigmatization of services provided by their members, from lack of government support to increased violence and dispossession, tribal communities have been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Odisha Dialogues, in partnership with Laadli -- the media advocacy initiative of Population First, assembled a panel of grassroots activists, academic and advocacy experts and policy makers to assess the impact and suggest a way forward.
Topsy turvy protocols make Covid a global policy disaster Dr P.S.Venkatesh Rao https://www.sundayguardianlive.com/news/topsy-turvy-protocols-make-covid-global-policy-disaster January 22, 2022,
Over two years of this pandemic there has been a profusion of advisories, guidelines, protocols issued by WHO and various national governments and health agencies with frequent changes, U-turns, retractions, often contradicting each other. Blind obedience to WHO’s inconsistent guidelines and China influenced actions has demolished the world economy and WHO’s reputation. Inability to pinpoint what led to this pandemic and lack of imposition of consequences on those responsible have further eroded the credibility and authority of international bodies and leaders
Good communication skills and ability to win the trust and cooperation of health workers and the public at large is essential for the success of any public health policy.
As extreme poverty returns, India sees surge in child slavery https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/9/2/as-extreme-poverty-returns-india-sees-surge-in-child-slavery Among many gains lost to the COVID-19 pandemic, child labour shows resurgence, worsened by inadequate rescue efforts.
As the economic crisis compelled impoverished families to resort to desperate measures, evidence slowly emerged of a rise in the incidence of child labour in India.
In 2020-21, the number of children rescued and rehabilitated under the National Child Labour Project rose despite the lockdowns and restrictions on operating industries.
India’s Minister of State for Labour and Employment Rameswar Teli told the parliament that the number of children rescued was 58,289 in 2020-21, an increase from 54,894 in 2019-20, 50,284 in 2018-19 and 47,635 in 2017-2018.
India’s last census, held in 2011, pegged the total number of child labourers in India at 10.1 million.
Asked if the pandemic had caused a spike in child labour, Priyank Kanoongo, chairman of India’s National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, told Al Jazeera that children cannot be viewed or protected in a silo.
Migrant Crisis after the Lockdown
Playlist at AIPSN
Ye Kaisi Aazadi (ये कैसी आज़ादी) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kq3xavRaR8M
May 31, 2020 Migrant Labour wants to returns home. They are facing a inhuman system at every steps. This government is careless and crucial. This is happening in a free and democratic country. Is this really a freedom and democracy.
Hume Ghar Jane Do ( हमें घर जाने दो) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGdbw8wATUs
May 18, 2020 Labour are struggling to go home. The system is completely inhuman and barbaric. The government has to provide buses and trains to the labour.
क्या हम इंसान नहीं? Are we not human? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-qufMbZUOg
May 9, 2020
Ye Hadasa Nahi Hatya Hai ( ये हादसा नहीं हत्या है) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6I_vXGUR_5E Labours are compelled to return their homes on foot by roads or off roads and railway lines. The government is not concerned and completely callous about labour. The government has to provide buses and trains. Labour's pain and agony is endless.. May 10, 2020
जान है तो जहान है। Let the workers go home. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-WMhwFJbi4
May 9, 2020
इस दुर्दशा का जवाब दो! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acAapS84iWU
May 5, 2020
MGNREGA: Wages Worth Over 65 Crore Remain Unpaid by the BJP-led MP Government https://gaurilankeshnews.com/mgnrega-wages-worth-over-65-crore-remain-unpaid-by-the-bjp-led-mp-government/ July 8, 2021 Many young workers including those who had come back to their native villages during the lockdown are migrating to cities such as Delhi, Maharashtra, and Indore in search of work. wages worth 65 crores and 86 lakhs still remain unpaid by the Madhya Pradesh government. The delay in payments violates the law that demands that the workers be paid their wages within 15 days after the date on which the work was completed. Furthermore, according to the 2018 Supreme Court order, in the case of any delay of wages, the workers must get compensation from the state.
https://www.gaonconnection.com/madhya-pradesh/65-crore-86-lakh-wages-of-mgnrega-workers-pending-in-madhya-pradesh-villagers-getting-away-from-the-scheme-49463 मध्य प्रदेश: मनरेगा श्रमिकों की 65 करोड़ 86 लाख रुपए की मजदूरी बकाया, योजना से दूर हो रहे ग्रामीण मनरेगा में समय पर भुगतान न होने से मध्य प्रदेश में मनरेगा मजदूर परेशान हैं। ग्रामीणों का कहना है कि कोरोना के चलते पहले ही आर्थिक संकट है, ऊपर से मजूदरी समय पर नहीं मिल रही है। Arun SinghArun Singh 5 July 2021