Population growth seems to have dropped off the public agenda these days. One reason for this is a twist in the old Malthusian argument that sees the rising proportion of persons of working age as a positive for growth. This shift in the age-distribution, it is argued, will stimulate savings as pressure on household and public budgets for the needs of dependent children comes down. Young workers are assumed to...
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Basic Adversities Faced by Women in the World of Work by Sona Mitra
The global platform for action on gender equality and women’s empowerment was fixed in Beijing 15 years ago and international organizations like the ILO, women activists and researchers, policymakers, etc all over the world have advocated for gender equality in the world of work for even longer. Although women constitute almost 41 per cent of the global labour force, yet the productive potential of women workers still remains grossly undermined....
More »Rural households’ earnings up by 45% by Ruhi Tewari
The earnings of India’s rural households increased by 45% in two years, thanks to the Union government’s flagship job guarantee scheme, says the rural development ministry, which oversees the scheme. The ministry says the figures are based on an independent study it had commissioned, but experts claim the scheme hasn’t been as successful on the ground as the study suggests. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, or MGNREGA, promises at...
More »Not as wheatful as expected by Jyotika Sood
Farmers in Punjab reported low wheat yield this year. Even though the state agriculture machinery sold them certified seeds, not all seeds germinated, several farmers from Ferozepur district told Down To Earth (dte). They said the seeds were spurious. On March 17 and 18, Sunil Jakhar, Congress mla from Abohar block in Ferozepur, raised questions to the state’s agriculture minister in the legislative assembly. Jakhar alleged the government sold ordinary seeds...
More »Dividing children by TK Rajalakshmi
The Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme has been conceived as a major intervention by the Central government to deal with the high rates of infant mortality, low birth weight, and malnutrition among women and children. The scheme essentially targets children in the age group of zero to six years and women in the reproductive age group. The problem is that the ICDS is seen as the success story behind...
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