Demonetisation caused ‘irreversible loss’ to children’s health: Sainath

Senior journalist P Sainath Saturday said “irreversible loss” was caused to children’s health as the mid-day meal scheme collapsed after demonetisation. In a session at the Mumbai Collective, he said migrant workers were the worst hit by demonetisation as they were unable to send money home. “An unseen effect of demonetisation was irreversible loss to the health of children. Across the country, millions of children were hungry months after months as the mid-day meal collapsed,” said Sainath.

Chairperson of the Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Sucheta Mahajan said communal forces threatening the nation today are the same that sided with the imperial forces during the national movement. “The anxiety about nationalism which communal forces faces today is linked to their insecurity about them being missing from action during the time the nation was on the move against the colonial rule,” said Mahajan. Shamsul Islam, political scientist, said the RSS wants to raise the saffron flag instead of the tricolour.