-Newsclick.in NYAY amounts to a largesse by the government, an act of charity towards the bottom quintile, not the institution of a universal economic right to decent living. My attitude to the NYAY scheme of the Congress is similar to my attitude to a benevolent monarchy. While a benevolent monarchy is better than a tyrannical one, any monarchy is repugnant compared to a republic. Likewise compared to the current neo-liberal regime any...

-The Hindu The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) data have revealed a drastic increase in the number of Unemployed people in India. A comparison of the employment-to-population ratio (EPR) in rural versus urban areas shows significant variations. Rural EPR came down relatively more in 2017-18 compared to urban EPR, according to the PLFS data accessed by The Hindu. Rural women hit the most Among all the cohorts, the EPR of rural women registered the...

-The Hindu Manifesto includes repealing AFSPA. Targeting the Narendra Modi government for a 45-year high in unemployment figures, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M) in its manifesto, released on Thursday in Delhi, said the “right to work” should be enshrined in the Constitution and there should be a provision of allowance for those without jobs. The party’s campaign song too captures the party’s accusation with lyrics that say “Aab ki baar, Modi...

-The Hindu There is obfuscation over both the existence of a jobs crisis and the diagnosis of it It is well established that India is staring at a massive jobs crisis. Every single survey points to jobs as the biggest issue concerning voters, especially the youth. Yet, the Prime Minister and the government steadfastly refuse to even acknowledge this issue, let alone address it. India’s jobs crisis is an economic issue, not a...

-The Hindu A basic income scheme will deliver benefits to the poor only if it comes on top of public services The idea of a universal basic income (UBI) is gaining ground globally. It has supporters among the political left and right, and among proponents as well as opponents of the free-market economy. A UBI requires the government to pay every citizen a fixed amount of money on a regular basis and...