-The Hindu The Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC) launched in 2011 to enumerate castes along with socio-economic data, is progressing, and is likely to be completed soon. A stand-alone caste headcount may not normally be desirable in a country grappling with the adverse consequences of social hierarchy and caste-based divisions. However, in conjunction with socio-economic data, a caste census may yield quantifiable data that could be used to evaluate measures such...

-Employment News The article discusses some of the features of the newly proposed Swachch Bharat Abhiyan. Though the detailed guidelines of the programme have not been issued yet, a preliminary assessment has been made from the information available in the public domain. The article highlights that the high degree of policy priority accorded to sanitation with the introduction of the programme could go a long way in achieving an open defecation...

-DNA India's rising affluence and water profligacy could trigger a food crisis very soon At first blush, there is a lot to be cheerful about. India's index of industrial production has resumed its climb. Stalled projects are being dusted and revived. There is a good chance that employment figures, too, will begin rising by the end of the next quarter. Then there is more good news. Per capital GDP (Gross Domestic Product)...

-Economic and Political Weekly The current regime seeks to reform labour laws with the understanding that these reforms will improve industrial growth and expand the possibilities of enterprise. However, there is already ample evidence from within India that this obsession with reforming labour law, particularly in the way the government has done it till now, will not take us any closer in creating more jobs or a healthy industrial sector. These...

In the midst of national debates over the need for labour laws reforms and the efficacy of MG-NREGA in checking distress migration, a new report brings spotlight on the miserable living and working conditions of unorganized migrant workers from Rajasthan. Titled Their Own Country: A Profile of Labor Migration from Rajasthan, the report prepared jointly by Aajeevika Bureau and UNESCO informs us that 70% of seasonal migrant workers from Rajasthan...