Policy Watch: Special Issue – June 2020

We bring out the monthly Policy Watch on each of these themes sequentially and every sixth issue is a Special Issue, where we carry articles from each theme. Not surprisingly the overarching topic for this Special Issue is Impact of Covid and Revival Strategies.

Under the theme, Constitutional Values and Democratic Institutions, the first article by Arun Maira, former Member of the Planning Commission argues for a new political economy. The second article is by Kabir Dev, a young research intern on the constitutional issues arising out of the notifications made by Central and State Governments under certain laws. Kabir describes the scope and intent of these laws and shows how in the process of application they rode roughshod on citizens’ rights & entitlements. Some remedies are recommended.

Under the theme, Governance and Development, we carry two pieces of field reportage, on the lockdown and its effects, particularly on migrant workers. The first is by RGICS Fellow, Yuvraj Kalia, who worked throughout last three months with the District Administration in Jalandhar, first helping in the relief effort and later in migrant workers’ transportation. The second is an eye-witness account of the plight of migrant workers as they walked from Banglaore to their home states – contributed by Ram Esteves of ADATS, Bagepalli, located right on the Bangalore-Hyderabad highway.

Under the theme, Growth with Employment, we offer the highlights of survey on over 400 MSMEs that was carried by an RGICS team led by Sr Visiting Fellow of RGICS, Dr Rakesh Malhotra. (See https://www.rgics.org/wp-content/uploads/Impact-of-COVID 19-on-MSMEs.pdf). We carry report of a second survey that was done of 100 MSME entrepreneurs belonging to the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. The second article is by Coordinator of the RGCIS Tamil Nadu Policy Observatory, Dr S. Nirmala, who interviewed a number of workers in the informal sector, those self-employed as well as migrant workers, in the Madurai district.

Under the theme Environment, Natural Resources and Sustainability, RGICS Fellow Jeet Singh recalls the link between environmental degradation, destruction of wild-life habitat and the rise of zoonotic diseases. He goes on to show that even as the world is reeling under Covid and learning the lesson about conserving the environment, jal, jangal, jameen, our Government is wantonly permitting all kinds of projects to proceed which will destroy more of our water, forests and land resources.

Under the theme, India’s Place in the World, we carry an infographic collage compiled from various sources by RGICS Research Associate Sahibpreet Kaur.