-The Indian Express Somanathan said the government is trying to reach the target group of unskilled and semi-skilled workers through increased government expenditure in the construction sector. Working with a “constrained resource envelope” in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic ahead of Budget 2021-22, the government essentially had to make a choice between two policy options: handouts and capital expenditure. “We chose capex,” TV Somanathan, Expenditure Secretary, Ministry of Finance, told The...
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Post COVID-19, ILO calls for national-level policy on those working from home -Kiran Pandey
-Down to Earth There is an urgency to adopt global labour standards and improve national-level labour registries for home-based workers, organisation says in its new report There is a need to develop effective policies for home-based workers and ensure their proper implementation even as the practice had increased since the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, the International Labour Organization (ILO) said in a new report. Just 10 countries had ratified the Convention on...
More »Why Modi Govt Looked the Other Way on Giving Cash Relief During Pandemic -Prabhat Patnaik
-Newsclick.in Timidity vis-à-vis international finance capital, callousness toward people, and cynicism in manipulating the electorate and legislators, have made the Modi government one of the most ultra-Right governments in the world. The Narendra Modi government must be the most timid in the world vis-à-vis international finance capital. By the same token, it must be the most callous in the world vis-à-vis the working people of the country. The one is the flip...
More »Hard bargains and the art of policymaking -MR Madhavan
-The Hindu Discontent over the new farm laws is a result of sidestepping debate and discussion in Parliament The ongoing farmers’ agitation epitomises the need to have detailed discussions and consultations while making law and policy. The process of building consensus and addressing concerns may be time-consuming, but it leads to greater acceptance of policy objectives. While such work has to be done at multiple levels, Parliament is perhaps the most important...
More »Lessons from the lockdown for India’s rural employment scheme -Vani Viswanathan, Sultan Ahmad & Aaditeshwar Seth
-Scroll.in Often the sole source of income for households in villages, NREGA has been plagued with issues during the pandemic. During the lockdown, an estimated 20 million to 30 million migrant workers returned home, out of work and out of money. Some of them tried helping their families with farming and some even used the skills they had developed to set up new enterprises. But most remained jobless. The National Rural Employment...
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