-The Hindu Redistribution measures have been ineffective and there are no policies discouraging accumulation of income and wealth The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the stark divide between the rich and the poor. At this juncture, evaluating the state of inequality serves as an eye-opener on the income/wealth divides prevailing across regions. Such divides are represented in terms of the share of income/wealth among the top 10% of the population against the bottom...

-The Hindu Business Line It’s in India’s own interest to phase out free supply electricity and water and focus on productivity boosting infrastructure The macroeconomic impact of MSP has been neglected in the current debate. It worked, over the years, as a push keeping Indian inflation high. The short-term rise in farmer incomes it delivered was soon eroded, leading to another rise and so on. In recent years it has led India to...

-The Hindu The need is to convince farmers of other effective policy interventions that are World Trade Organization compatible The demand of farmers to provide a legal guarantee for the minimum support price (MSP) for their produce has triggered a nationwide debate. Some believe it would be “fiscally ruinous” to procure all the 23 crops for which MSP is announced annually. Others contend that procuring these crops would be a logistical nightmare....

-Scroll.in It is essential for policy makers to understand the crises created by widening income inequalities and labour market ruptures. In the context of the current global macro-economic situation, there are three deep currents for the Indian government to be aware of. How it understands and responds to these challenges will shape the country’s socio-economic trajectory over the next few years. The first undercurrent: the deepening of income and wealth inequalities. Second: a...

-The Hindu Business Line Economy is recovering but rural labour market still in distress Even as the economy is on the recovery track — spurring optimism about job creation and better employment prospects — a large pART of the labour force, especially in the rural areas, continues to face challenges. Data from the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) indicates that stress in the labour market, which escalated after Covid-19 lockdowns,...