Independent journalist. I write on the intersection of policy and politics. Formerly at @livemint. For commissioning and leads - thisisanuja(at)outlook(dot)com
India’s estimated 140 mn migrant workers, one of the most mobile populations, run the risk of being left out of the ongoing #COVID-19 vaccination drive either due to lack targeted strategy, low awareness or shortages.
I report for Al Jazeera @AJEnglish https://t.co/HWgI6N7LcT
Her Library, Their Future
An Indian state's initiative to establish women-run community libraries is giving rural students—especially girls—a safe space to study and access career guidance
My recent piece for Stanford Social Innovation Review (link in comments)
Extreme heat is no longer just a public health concern but it is also eroding incomes and pushing low income workers into cycles of debt. A new @WIEGOGLOBAL report shows women vendors take on more debt to cope with heat in Delhi.
I write for @Mint_Lounge
https://t.co/4cPOEJL3e1
What makes Kohrra 2 unusual is not that it includes migrant characters but that it never frames migration as exceptional. It is unremarked way of life in this part of Punjab, as ambient as winter fog the show is named after.
I write for @IndianExpress
https://t.co/5FeMJCn9Cx
The union labour ministry recently directed quick commerce companies to stop promoting their business as a ten minute service. In this podcast for @TMigrationStory we spoke to delivery rider, consumers and experts to unpack what its longterm impact is.
https://t.co/EcCBAgXZzd
For the past year, I worked with @dakekang and AP colleagues on an investigation into how Chinese surveillance tech— based on technology developed in the U.S. — has spread across Nepal.
https://t.co/b5hZya9vdj
The landmark Right to Information (RTI) law turns 20 today.
In a cover story for @the_hindu Magazine, I take a deep dive into into its success stories, the challenges it faces and more importantly, the people who are fighting to keep it alive.
https://t.co/BdkofC7EVV
Missing the SIR Memo
Many Bihari migrant workers in the national capital said they are unaware of the electoral roll revisions owing to poor literacy and poor access to digital platforms
I report for @TMigrationStory
https://t.co/QHRIQAX0Tv
These heat alert boards — which carry simple instructions in Hindi, like wearing full sleeved clothing, not eating stale food, and drinking water every 20 minutes — are more eye-catching and specific compared to regular advisories, workers said.
How does one make climate messaging more inclusive? Particularly for outdoor workers?
Street vendor groups in Delhi, with @Indiametdept & @greenpeaceindia, have put up heat alert boards in some of the busiest street markets.
I report for @MongabayIndia
https://t.co/CkFztj5UKC
They spoke extensively on the upcoming census, challenges faced by enumerators in surveying migrant workers and how robust data is essential for this group to access social security benefits.
Indian government has last month officially notified the 2027 census, ending years of delay. But low income migrant workers have often found themselves being left out of the count due to a high mobility factor.
New podcast episode @TMigrationStory
https://t.co/HrDVRbfs08
I spoke to K Narayanan Unni, retired officer of the Indian Statistical Service and a former Dy Registrar General and Asha M., founder and president of Karnataka based Yuva Chetna Foundation.
the worrying shift from wage structure to piece rate payments in some clusters are visible. I report for @TMigrationStory on such long term impact with sharp insights from @BRbbhagat@div_varma and @rajancds among others as part of a special series titled 'A Pandemic's Epilogue'.
Five years after India was put under one of the world’s strictest lockdown, to control the spread of Covid-19 pandemic, there is an acute lack of empirical data capturing its long-term ramifications on India’s domestic labour migration and trends. (cont.)
https://t.co/fyCOKXa8x4
In the absence of numerical are observations by experts who say that trends like return to pre-Covid migration levels or even surpassing it,preference for short distance migration, new trends in migration endpoints including source and destination, rising indebtedness and (cont.)
Do read the story of Birendra in his own words for @TMigrationStory based on a conversation I had with him as part of a special series titled 'A Pandemic's Epilogue" . With powerful illustrations by @SharanyaKunnath and fine edits by @Rolionaroll.
"Jab yeh haadsa hua, tab mai uske saath tha (I was with him when the accident happened)," said Birendra Singh, whose younger brother Brigendra Singh was one among 16 migrant workers who got mowed down by a goods train while resting on the tracks (cont.)
https://t.co/tDhHxfFLFA
an unspoken grief, sense of loss and mental trauma gnaws from the side. Birendra, while speaking to @TMigrationStory, repeated thrice how he was the one who took his brother on his last migration trip or that he could not attend his funeral because of being in quarantine (cont.)