Anupam Paul, a passionate seed conservator, who retired as the Assistant Director in the Nadia-based Agricultural Training Centre, Bengal government, is credited with conserving more than 400 varieties of traditional rice seeds.

Farmers and local NGOs say the indigenous rice varieties that are fast becoming extinct have unique nutrition, climate-resilience to ensure food security in increasingly unpredictable weather.

Rice growing farmer communities refuse to accept new fortified rice kernels, while public health experts express concern at the food scheme’s lack of safety mechanisms for vulnerable groups.

In Jharkhand, 56,000 quintals fortified rice rations were distributed while the state lacked a fully equipped laboratory to confirm the quality and the levels of vitamins and iron.

Those who lobbied for a diktat of rice fortification in India’s public schemes, a contested technical fix for anaemia, took little accountability for its safety or quality.

The government is adding synthetic micronutrients – iron, Vitamin B and folic acid – as a potential solution to malnourishment and anaemia. But both rice farmers and consumers are less than convinced.

Even after the success of farmers’ protests, mandi workers, the most vulnerable in the food and farming chain, have not seen any improvements in their lives.

Sanjay, who received a grievous crush injury during industrial work, was looking for a safe alternative livelihood in housekeeping in Gurugram when he and his relative were attacked by local men.

In the absence of an income support package during the coronavirus-induced lockdown, low-wage workers face anxiety and economic hardship.

During a plenary at Strasbourg, several EU parliamentarians and senior policy makers criticised the visit and said it lacked sanction from the parliament.

The government recognises miners as being occupationally vulnerable to TB. For thousands, however, an epidemic of silicosis is making that diagnosis even more difficult.

Real average daily wages improved between 1993-94 and 2011-12, but gains of growth have bypassed casual workers, women and rural areas.

Though the marginalised Sahariya community were allotted houses built by the government, the poor materials used have made them unliveable in the monsoon.