-The Hindu While indexation of the NREGA wages is critical, lifting them to the minimum wage would help workers and the economy The government made two recent announcements at two ends of the spectrum to mitigate the economic crisis. One concerns a new indexation of NREGA wages meant to increase rural incomes. The second is a reduction in corporate tax rate. Prices of commodities increase each year, so it’s important to accurately estimate...

-The Hindu Putting more money in the hands of rural households will stir up the economy The government’s statistical machinery has begun work on revising the indices that capture the trends in consumer prices experienced in rural India. This opens up the prospect for an upward revision in the wages paid out to workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). The current national average wage is just about...

-The Hindu Stimulus measure to link pay to consumer price index with annual revision. Staring at a slump in rural demand and a slowdown in the rural economy, the Centre plans to inject more money into the UPA’s flagship Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme by linking wages under the Act to an updated inflation index, which will be revised annually. It hopes this will increase wages, thus increasing...

-The Hindu Electricity sector growth, however, slows to 4.75% in July from 8.19% in June; food inflation at a 14-month high Industrial activity rebounded in July to 4.3% on a broad-based recovery across key sectors such as mining, manufacturing and construction, official data released on Thursday showed. In a separate release, data showed retail inflation rose in August to hit a 10-month high of 3.21% on quickening food price rises. Growth in the Index...

-The Telegraph Inflation and a poor monsoon may add to our woes in an economy already plagued with high unemployment and low demand The ministry of commerce has released the latest data on wholesale price index inflation. The data on food inflation have attracted attention as it soared to a 33-month high in April 2019. However, this rate of inflation is still moderate at 7.4 per cent. The inflation has been due...