The Policy Monitor
Reality bites when low government/low-income schools try to keep pace with online education despite inadequate access to the internet, mobile phone, and computers. They are already struggling to survive on basic food and shelter with learning as no longer a priority.
Wage determination, therefore, becomes less and less a function of demand and supply and more and more a function of class power. If we take the regular demand-supply framework into consideration, we realise that the present pandemic not only causes a negative shock on the aggregate demand levels but also the aggregate supply levels
This pandemic has exposed the inherent weaknesses of state functioning and questioned the very structure on which modern economies have been thriving.
The costs of attending work for everyone would be the possibility of becoming a vector of transmission of virus but if the societal benefits of certain employees exceed their costs, adjusted wage payments should be made accordingly
The medium-term impact of the pandemic on international trade and the degree of efficacy of anti-free trade measures depends on the ability of the domestic producers and service providers to scale up operations
The evidence and stories about the humanitarian crisis coming from various parts of the country are dire According to the report of Stranded Workers Action Network (SWAN), a group of volunteers conducting relief works for the stranded workers across the country, 72% of the workers who have contacted them have food ration left for only two days.
The lockdown has further demonstrated that the governance structures of democracy quite often legitimise use of violence against poor. Therefore, the ever-migrating cohorts of Indian citizens are now reduced to migrant labourers stuck in different cities without having even work or food supplies.
At first sight, the package aims to tackle the issue from the top, giving out money to banks and enterprises but in India’s case, it won’t be enough as unlike any other major economy, we are facing a subsistence crisis in the case of low-skilled labourers.
With the ambitious plan of doubling the framers’ income by 2022-23, Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman in her budget speech introduced Kisan Rail scheme. In an effort to build a coherent national supply chain for perishable products, Kisan Rail train with frozen containers will be started along with refrigerated coaches being added in Express and Freight trains for the transportation of perishable goods from the producer to the market. This farm to fork model is aimed to be set up via PPP model.
Overall, in NITI Aayog’s SDG Index, Bihar is positioned last with Index score of 50, while Kerala (70) stands at top followed by Himachal Pradesh (69) and Andhra Pradesh (67), with India’s average index score being 60. This is also supported by above report findings where we observe that Bihar has ranked poorly on parameters of poverty alleviation, zero hunger, food security, health and education.