-The Hindu Policy efforts to formalise the economy will have limited results as the bulk of informal units are petty producers Since 2016, the Government has made several efforts to formalise the economy. Currency demonetisation, introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), digitalisation of financial transactions and enrolment of informal sector workers on numerous government Internet portals are all meant to encourage the formalisation of the economy. But why the impetus...

-Press release by National Coalition on the Education Emergency (NCEE) dated January 22, 2022 Schools in Bengaluru remain closed while malls, theatres, pubs and restaurants have been kept open. As of 21 January, the weekend curfew has been lifted as well. The decision to keep schools closed is having catastrophic consequences on children. Schools had only recently started opening after remaining mostly closed since March 2020. Their being closed again spells...

-Down to Earth The COVID-19 pandemic prevented a full and balanced recovery of labour markets in 2021 Global unemployment is projected to stand at 207 million in 2022. This is 21 million more than in 2019 before the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic began, according to the ILO World Employment and Social Outlook – Trends 2022. Global working hours in 2022 will be almost two per cent below their pre-pandemic level — that...

-Down to Earth Ganjam, known to be severely affected by child marriages, is Odisha’s first district to be declared child marriage free Odisha’s Ganjam district was declared child marriage-free January 3, 2022, district collector Vijay Amruta Kulange said. “We decided to declare the district free of child marriage after collecting detailed information about all weddings that took place in 2020 and 2021,” Kulange said at an event organised at the district headquarters. The district...

-TheWire.in A PIL seeking social security benefits for gig workers and platform workers brings to the front a storm of issues that have festered over the last few years. There is a storm of discontent brewing within India’s app-based worker community, which the Union government has been sidelining for far too long much to the dismay of the over 15 million gig workers in India. While the government persists with an apathetic attitude...