Many schools and universities have switched to online mode for education of their students. However, one question still remains whether the economically weaker section of the society will be able to keep pace with the technology. The migrants are jobless and farmers are in distress. They used to sustain their lives on daily wages and somehow managed to educate their children. Now, with the outbreak of Covid-19 the question arises of how these kids will avail education.

There has been a huge divide in India when it comes to education. Ed-tech may be able to provide good education but it can not be afforded by everyone at least for now. Millions of students studying in government schools and colleges specially from poor economic backgrounds have lost access to education. Though people argue that online courses bridge the gap between economically stronger and weaker sections of society, the question here is of accessibility to technology. Technology has become accessible to many people but it is still not accessible to many rural parts of the country. As per National Sample Survey report on education 2017-18, less than 15% of the rural parts of India have access to the internet, whereas for urban areas the percentage is 42%. The economically weak cannot afford internet or smartphone or a computer. 

Thus the poor students are hit hard by this pandemic because they can be left behind with this sudden change in teaching pedagogy. Many poor families used to send their children to schools because they were assured that their children would get a mid-day meal. They believed that school was a safe environment for them. Many poor students do not have such facilities like their private rooms in which they can study. The houses in rural areas are not very spacious and sometimes lack basic amenities. Therefore, even if the students get access to the internet there will be another challenge of whether they will have the right environment for studies.

Impact on education of Girls

This may have an impact on the education of girls. Many poor people have a laid back attitude when it comes to education of girls. This problem of accessibility of education has further added to the problems of education of girls. This may increase the drop out rate of girls. 

Challenge of learning in English rather than their native language

The other challenge is providing them education in the language they understand. Many ed-tech platforms are not available in vernacular languages. The students should be able to connect to their teacher through these platforms. However, many government schools and colleges don’t have the infrastructure for this connectivity and building this infrastructure right now will incur huge costs. The schools will have to invest in digital infrastructure as well training of the teachers and they lack funds for these changes. 

Electricity Issue

Even if the students tackle all the above barriers there is one more barrier which comes in way of their education and that is electricity. Though the government, through the Subhagya scheme, claims that 99.9% of Indian households receive electricity, the question is about their quality. The electricity connection is poor in major parts of the country. Electricity is very crucial for digital learning because digital devices operate on it. This leads to more cost in accessing education.

What can be immediate solution for this?

For short-term the government schools should explore other options like radio and TV. Most preferably the government can work out something with radio. It can be like setting some local frequencies for an area like one frequency for Gujarat students where they can learn in their native language gujarati. This may help them in accessing education till the situation improves. The government should ensure that lack of access to internet should not lead to digital divide.

For a long time, the farmers have been distressed. From harsh nature to corrupted humans, they have to deal a lot in their lives. The Covid-19 pandemic destroyed the supply chains and thus devastated the business of many farmers who grew fruits and vegetables. 

To provide some relief to farmers, the government came with three reforms

• Ammendment of Essential Commodities Act 1955.
• Enabling Contract farming.
• Relaxing Agriculture marketing rules.

Ammendment of Essential Commodities Act 1955

There are many products that are categorised as essential commodities and therefore their prices and quantities are regulated by government. The government has now ammended this act and deregulated cereals, edible oils, oil seeds, pulses, onions and potato.

Enabling Contract Farming

This reform was passed as ‘The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Ordinance, 2020’. We are all aware of how businesses hedge their risks by entering into contracts. Now, this model of contract can be used in farming also. Farmers can now enter into contracts with the buyers and get an assured amount for their crops. This will enable them an assured income.

Relaxing Agriculture marketing rules

Out the the three reforms this reform is the most appealing one. The government passed this reform as ‘The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce(Promotion and Facilitation) Ordinance,2020′. This ordinance not only frees farmers from many barriers but also gives them exemption from taxes and fees. 

The existing system:

In the current system farmers had to sell their crops in mandis aka APMC (Agriculture Produce Marketing Companies). APMCs were formed by state government to ensure that farmers get fair price on their farm produce and these APMCs are governed by the APMC Act. The farm produce is brought to the market and sold through auction. Only licensed traders can operate within the market and private ones are not allowed to buy directly from the farmers. These licensed traders used to form a cartel and thus farmers had to sell them at  very lower prices. Under this system, only those traders who registered with that market can purchase from the farmers of that market. So, a trader from Gujarat will not be able to purchase from a mandi in Delhi unless he is registered there. The recent ordinance removed this barrier and thus allows farmers to sell their crops to any buyer. 

This open ups the opportunity for private players to enter the market. However, these private players will have to incur capital expenditure in form of establishing a system to procure farm produce. They will compete against the existing system of APMC and thus it is not going to be easy for the new entrants. They will have to setup a physical infrastructure (a private mandi) which enables them to weigh, sort and grade the farm produce. This mandi should also be near to the farm-gate.

Without any doubt these reforms are a step towards prosperity of farmers. However, the farmers may not get immediate benefits of these reforms. In these times, the farmers required actions that provides them with immediate benefits. This reforms will help them in long run but when it comes to fighting the current situation, the farmers are not equipped. They needed measures which could support their family in a short time. If government does not come with any measure to give farmers short term benefits than farmers have to look for themselves. In that situation, they can only hope of some good private players entering the market immediately and thus paying them to sustain themselves.

When the world is fighting a deadly pandemic, the migrant workers of India have a fight of their own. It is fight of their survival. The rule of this world is simple and that is, the weak gets taken. When many people were exploring their hobbies in their home during lockdown, these migrant workers were struggling to find their way back to home. They walked miles to reach their home and many lost their precious lives because of it.

For them before fighting Covid-19, the fight of their survival was important. After a long time of ignoring their problems, the government finally appears to have woken up by announcing some measures to reduce the plight of the migrant workers.

Some of the measures announced by it are as follows:

• Rs. 3500 crore food support programme.
• An allotment of additional funding of Rs. 40000 crore to NREGA scheme.
• Plan to provide them with affordable housing so that they are able to come back to cities.

Apart from these measures, the measure which will definitely make a lot of effect will be direct benefit transfer to these workers. This will help them to sustain themselves and atleast fulfill their basic needs. The aforementioned measures are also effective but they won’t solve the problem these workers are facing right now. These workers are in a devastating situation and some amount of direct transfer can cure their pain.

The ripple effects of their problem

The migrant workers will reduce the spending on education of their children. They will also not travel long distances in search of some work. Their will an increase in interstate migration and a drop in long-distance inter state migration. 

Starving for food

Without a day job these migrant workers are fighting persistent hunger. Some of them, mostly children, are facing a condition called “wasting” a sign of acute malnutrition and chronic hunger. The landless families that are dependent on day job are covered under federal food security scheme and normally gets 20kg of rice and wheat every month. The government, expanded this federal food security scheme and provided extra 20kg of grains for free. However, many of them can not avail this benefit because of absence of their Aadhar data in the database. In such circumstanes, they have hopes on wages from rural jobs scheme so that they can sustain their families. However, the problem with scheme is that there are many hands and few work which makes the situation more vulnerable for them.

The problem with rural jobs scheme like NREGA is that there is work for one or two weeks and then there is nothing for two to two and a half months. This uncertainty adds to the plight of the workers. Also a unique feature of this scheme is that the workers are not paid on daily basis but according to the earthwork done by them. Suppose if a person completes earthwork equivalent to 80 cubic feet in a day then, he /she will receive a day’s wage of Rs. 202. Also, the maximum permitted number of days to work are 100. The government has not made any changes for now on this limit.

The order of Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has ordered the Central and State Government to drop all the cases against migrant workers to break lockdown and also facilitate their return home in next 15 days so that they can be provided with ration, food and jobs in the next phase.

Many actors like Sonu Sood and Amitabh Bachchan have come ahead to support these migrant workers. All they need is some support. Kindly, support them in which ever way you can.

For a long time, the poor population of our country was devoid from basic financial services. With Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana(PMJDY), the government is trying to provide the basic financial services to those who were not able to avail it previously.

Major benefits under this scheme:

• No minimum balance required.
• Interest on deposits.
• Accidental insurance cover upto Rs. 2,00,000.
• Life cover of Rs. 30,000 payable on the death of the beneficiary, subject to the fulfillment of eligibility criteria.
• Beneficiaries of government schemes will get Direct Benefit transfer in these accounts.
• After satisfactory operation of the account for 6 months, overdraft facility is available.
• Overdraft facility of 10,000 is available in only one account per household, preferably lady of the household.

Who is eligible?

• Indian citizen
• Age should be 10 years and above
• The person should not have any bank account.

If all the above criterias are fulfilled, then the person can open an account under this scheme.

Documents Required:

• Passport
• Driving Licence
• Aadhar Card
• Voter’s Identity Card
• Job Card issued by NREGA signed by an officer of the State Government.
• ID card with photograph issued by Central/ State Government Departments, Statutory/ Regulatory authorities, Public Sector Undertakings, Scheduled Commercial Banks, and Public Financal Institutions; or
• A letter with duly attested photograph of the person issued by a Gazetted Officer.

What if you don’t have a document?

Well, even if you don’t have a document you can still open a Small Account with the bank by submitting a self-attested photo and signing or giving thumb print in presence of a bank official.

To open an account Click here