The mainstream projections about India’s economic trajectory talk of how the country’s GDP will exceed that of Japan (whose economy today is more than thrice India’s size) by 2020. A large part of this sustained growth, it is assumed, will come from what is called the demographic dividend. India’s young and growing workforce, the standard argument goes, will ensure that the country’s wage rates keep it competitive for a long...

Government has proposed to launch an urban employment guarantee scheme on the lines of NREGA and give statutory sanctions to minimum wages. The proposal, which focuses on generating employment and enhancing Employability among less advantaged, is part of the short-term strategies and targets of the government contained in the first Annual Report to the People on Employment. At present, states are under no obligation to implement revision of minimum wages...

The fight against Naxalites and development activity in rebel-affected areas are set to get a much-needed impetus over the next two years. Authorities in 11 rebel-affected districts of Jharkhand, which are among 33 across the country, have been told by the Planning Commission to prepare development plans to the tune of Rs 100 crore each for the 2010-11 and 2011-12 fiscals. Since the beginning of the month, deputy commissioners of...

KEY TRENDS   • In 2017-18, 24.8 percent of rural working-age men and 74.5 percent of rural working-age (viz. 15-59 years) women were not employed. In urban areas, 25.8 percent of working-age men and 80.2 percent of working-age women were not employed AB   • Both the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) and the Consumer Pyramids Survey of the Centre for Monitoring the Indian Economy (CMIE-CPDX) report the overall unemployment rate to be around 6 per cent in 2018,...

**page** [inside]KEY TRENDS of the Union Budget 2023-24[/inside] Budget 2023-24 is the last full budget before the general election scheduled for 2024. An analysis of the budget allocations suggests that the union government has squeezed expenditure, particularly on food subsidy and the NREGA budget, while boosting Capital expenditure and giving the middle class tax benefits. Social sector activists working on Right to Food, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) came out with...