-Newsclick.in Directly or indirectly, the government seems uninterested in creating jobs. At a time of widespread and intense concern about the worst unemployment situation in 45 years and all the distress and discontent that accompanies it, one would have expected the Union government to put job-creation at the top of its priority-list. One of the most obvious and direct ways to do this would be to expand its own schemes and programmes...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Some of the flagship employment generation and placement schemes, such as the Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) and Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Urban Livelihoods Mission, are expected to see a sharp decline in Job Creation during the current fiscal, according to data tabled in Parliament. Details provided by the labour & employment ministry states that the number of jobs generated under PMEGP plummeted from 5.87 lakh...

-The Telegraph Without simultaneous steps to raise productivity, passive acceptance of lost competitiveness has shaped India's approach India’s last-minute withdrawal from the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement has elicited much commentary. That it happened after exciting positive signals from senior government functionaries amidst vociferous opposition by noted lobby groups surprised all. A sizeable segment, however, backs the retreat, noting India’s current economic situation and low competitiveness to describe it as economic and...

-The Hindu Business Line Apart from easing labour laws and providing a social security net, a focus on clusters with access to land and capital will help Getting micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), who employ 92 per cent of the workforce, to grow more rapidly should be one of the pillars of any strategy for Job Creation. This year’s Economic Survey does candidly state that “Our policies must, therefore, focus on...

-Financial Express The government’s proposed Unnati scheme, if it works as planned, offers MGNREGA beneficiaries a ticket out of the programme, and, in the long run, out of poverty. It has been clear for a long time that MGNREGA is barely the poverty reduction tool it is often made out to be; at Rs 204 per day per person, the average wage rate across the country is too low to sustain a...