Hunger in the time of coronavirus
Modi wave on the one hand; Corona wave on the other. People are forced to struggle with both these waves. They no longer have the morale to speak up against the Prime Minister who keeps threatening to gift the people with ‘lockdown’. Even if they muster the courage to speak up, they are petrified at the ‘Modi wave’ and anxious about being branded as traitors. While people are desperately asking for food, for the Prime Minister, their cry sounds as a ‘demand for vaccines.’ Even though the Coronavirus is spreading rapidly through the media, people don’t seem interested in getting themselves vaccinated. More than the Coronavirus, they are worried about how to lead their daily lives.
And now, the imposition of curfew in various parts of the state is only increasing the hunger pangs of the people. It appears that the government is adamant that people should not lead their lives peacefully. People’s hunger is only bound to increase the problem of malnutrition substantially that will lead to further spread of fatal diseases such as tuberculosis. The problem of malnutrition is going to haunt the country as the country’s biggest problem of the future, and impact the country’s social, economic, and cultural spheres as well. According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) – Round 4, about 38.4 per cent of children below the age of five have not grown to the height appropriate to their age. About 21 per cent of the children do not weigh commensurate to their height. About 35.8 per cent are under weight and about 58.6 per cent are suffering from anemia.
Despite the implementation of several welfare measures, the problem of malnutrition worsened in 2019. According to the 5th round of National Family and Health Survey (2019) in which 22 states and union territories participated, the number of children with stunted physical growth and the number of children with frail bodies has increased in 13 and 12 states respectively. This alarming situation has further aggravated after Covid-19 with apprehensions that a large number of children would be subject to malnutrition in the coming days.
The Centre has now shown some interest in addressing the problem of malnutrition by releasing Rs 20,105 crore under the latest National Nutrition programme. But by imposing lockdown, it appears that the government has planned programmes to increase malnutrition as well. To meet its objective of reducing the deaths of children below five years and to fight against the problem of malnutrition by 2030, the government needs to redesign its strategy and come up with new programmes. In 2015, the Orissa government implemented the Community Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) programme to address the large number of deaths of children below five years in the tribal populated Kandamal district. As part of this programme, the government implemented a range of measures including setting up of clinics close to the tribal areas, providing treatment to children who were suffering from acute malnutrition, and providing nutritious food, hot meals, and rations.
The implementation of this programme and the treatment provided to children helped undernourished children gain weight and regain their health and resulted in the marked improvement of nutrition levels. Orissa’s implementation of community-led welfare programmes in the areas of disaster management, forest management, waste management, and other areas has won accolades. The only state that is giving competition to Orissa in this regard is Kerala.
Currently, the coronavirus and lockdown have turned upside down all programmes related to the curbing of malnutrition. With schools not opening up any time soon, fires to cook hot mid-day meals have not been lit. At the same time, the public distribution system is also in a mess. The poverty rate is increasing while the government’s programmes are faltering. The government that is in a dire economic condition has handed over everything to the private sector and is in the process of washing its hands off, saying “it’s not my duty to run business”. The ultimate result of privatization is that the rich become richer while the poor become poorer. It is not possible to drive away the Coronavirus completely but we should be able to live alongside the Coronavirus. But the government should first understand that it’s not an easy task to live with hunger.
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Texas halts H-1B visas at state universities, agencies; to affect Indians
Houston (US) (PTI): Texas Governor Greg Abbott has ordered state agencies and public universities to immediately halt new H-1B visa petitions, tightening hiring rules at taxpayer-funded institutions, a step likely to impact Indian professionals.
The freeze will remain in effect through May 2027.
The directive issued on Tuesday said that the state agencies and public universities must stop filing new petitions unless they receive written approval from the Texas Workforce Commission.
The governor's order, in a red state that is home to thousands of H-1B visa holders, comes as the Trump administration has initiated steps to reshape the visa programme.
“In light of recent reports of abuse in the federal H-1B visa programme, and amid the federal government’s ongoing review of that programme to ensure American jobs are going to American workers, I am directing all state agencies to immediately freeze new H-1B visa petitions as outlined in this letter,” Abbot said.
Institutions must also report on H-1B usage, including numbers, job roles, countries of origin, and visa expiry dates, the letter said.
US President Donald Trump on September 19 last year signed a proclamation ‘Restriction on entry of certain non-immigrant workers’ that restricted the entry into the US of those workers whose H-1B petitions are not accompanied or supplemented by a payment of USD 1,00,000.
The H1-B visa fee of USD 1,00,000 would be applicable only to new applicants, i.e. all new H-1B visa petitions submitted after September 21, including those for the FY2026 lottery.
Indians make up an estimated 71 per cent of all approved H-1B applications in recent years, according to US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), with China in the second spot. The major fields include technology, engineering, medicine, and research.
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is the second-highest beneficiary with 5,505 approved H-1B visas in 2025, after Amazon (10,044 workers on H-1B visas), according to the USCIS. Other top beneficiaries include Microsoft (5,189), Meta (5,123), Apple (4,202), Google (4,181), Deloitte (2,353), Infosys (2,004), Wipro (1,523) and Tech Mahindra Americas (951).
Texas public universities employ hundreds of foreign faculty and researchers, many from India, across engineering, healthcare, and technology fields.
Date from Open Doors -- a comprehensive information resource on international students and scholars studying or teaching at higher education institutions in the US -- for 2022-2023 showed 2,70,000 students from India embarked on graduate and undergraduate degrees in US universities, accounting for 25 per cent of the international student population in the US and 1.5 per cent of the total student population.
Indian students infuse roughly USD 10 billion annually into universities and related businesses across the country through tuition and other expenses – while also creating around 93,000 jobs, according to the Open Doors data.
Analysts warn the freeze could slow recruitment of highly skilled professionals, affecting academic research and innovation.
Supporters say the directive protects local jobs, while critics caution it could weaken Texas’ competitiveness in higher education and research.
The order comes amid broader debate in the US over skilled immigration and state-level interventions in federal programmes.
H-1B visas allow US companies to hire technically-skilled professionals that are not easily available in America. Initially granted for three years, these can be extended for another three years.
In September 2025, Trump had also signed an executive order ‘The Gold Card’, aimed at setting up a new visa pathway for those committed to supporting the United States; with individuals who can pay USD 1 million to the US Treasury, or USD 2 million if a corporation is sponsoring them, to get access to expedited visa treatment and a path to a Green Card.
