-The Hindu Lockdown slump may erase 20-30 lakh jobs, says expert Around 20-30 lakh workers, mostly contractual, could lose jobs in the Gurugram-Manesar-Bawal automobile belt due to slump in demand in the wake of COVID-19-induced lockdown, said Harbhajan Singh, chairman of Ease of Doing Business, CII, Haryana. Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Singh, also former director of Honda two-wheelers, said that the Gurugram-Manesar-Bawal automobile belt, which employs around six million workers and is...

-TheWire.in From demonetisation to GST and now the lockdown, the government's policies towards the 'unorganised sector' has spelt nothing but rack and ruin. What has the BJP-led government of Narendra Modi done since 2014 that does not suggest it wishes to destroy the informal economy, also known as the unorganised sector? While the ‘unorganised’ informal economy now accounts for roughly half of India’s GDP – and is shrinking relative to the share of...

-The Hindu All categories of manufacturing industries showed a contraction in production, with the worst affected being the automobile sector India’s factory output plummeted to record lows in March, with the Index of Industrial Production contracting 16.7%, reflecting the drastic impact of the countrywide lockdown that began on March 25. This comes after a positive growth of 4.5% recorded in February. manufacturing sector output slumped 20% in March, while electricity generation shrank almost...

-The Hindu Policy responses to the migrant crisis reinforce the idea of two Indias Jamalo Makdam, 12, died on April 18 walking back from the chilli fields of Telangana to her home in Chhattisgarh. She and a group of other workers decided to return home on foot, as many migrant workers did, after losing their jobs, incomes and even accommodation following the announcement of a nationwide lockdown. Her journey ended in death,...

-TheWire.in Unlike other sectors, a large majority of the farming community do not have any savings to fall back upon. The COVID-19 pandemic has not only hit manufacturing, services and business but also pushed back the Narendra Modi government’s ambitious programme to double farmers’ income by 2022. From feeding a population displaced, dislocated and frozen in its tracks, to ensuring farmers stay afloat in the coming months, the government has a tough...