Wages vanish, demand for ration soars as coronavirus lockdown hits villages

Despite the lockdown, the Centre exempted a range of farm-related activities, resulting in rabi harvest of potatoes and wheat to start in the fertile belts of western UP

Usually around this time of the year, Maya Devi, 50, works in the fields to pluck potatoes, sort them and fill them in bags before they are transported to distant mandis.

This time, she’s anxious. “My husband used to work in a local shoe-making unit but he’s sitting at home since last month as the unit has closed down,’’ Maya Devi, who lives in Sewla village near Agra, tells this reporter. After the  lockdown, which forced companies to shut their plants and factories to prevent the spread of coronavirus, plucking potatoes is the only source of livelihood for her. With her