The states bear the larger responsibility in dealing with Covid-19 but they have few resources to do so. The ongoing process of centralisation has weakened the states. We need an institutional…
There has been no count of the number of workers returning to their home states. An analysis of NSS data tells us that the first wave of returnees is likely to be mainly urban casual workers who lost…
The lockdown has devastated livelihoods at unprecedented levels, causing widespread job losses and hunger. The measures so far will not solve the crisis. India should universalise the PDS, expand…
The pandemic has already taught us that for a better world we cannot have the market as the backbone of the economy; we need a more inclusive politics; decentralised governance is essential; and we…
Drastic times call for radical measures. Falling tax revenues call for an increase in borrowings by the central government to help states. A failure to do so now could have a negative impact on the…
The lockdown disrupted agricultural markets just when the rabi crop was harvested. To support farmers the states & the centre need to devise policies to expand procurement to cover more crops…
The inter-dependence between public health & the economy in the Covid-19 crisis calls for solutions that address both together in the short & medium term. The long run demands a greater…
Train 18 is India’s first indigenously developed semi-high speed train set that was rolled out very quickly and at low cost. Yet, like many public R&D projects, Train 18 too has had to face…
The lockdown will not eliminate the coronavirus. Instead it could harm the livelihood & health of many. We must repair broken lives with economic measures, use evidence-based strategies to slow…
With more than three-quarters of India’s workforce either self-employed or in casual work, and earning low incomes, the lockdown was bound to devastate their livelihoods. Conditions were poor before…
