-The Hindu Putting more money in the hands of rural households will stir up the economy The government’s statistical machinery has begun work on revising the indices that capture the trends in consumer prices experienced in rural India. This opens up the prospect for an upward revision in the wages paid out to workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). The current national average wage is just about...

-The Indian Express India’s employment crisis calls for more government expenditure in education, adequate training. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his recent Independence Day speech, said, “We need to worry about population explosion”. These words stand in stark contrast to his previous references to India’s demographic dividend where the country’s population was seen as an asset. This shift reflects a new awareness, according to which demography brings a dividend only if...

Among the measures announced by the Union Finance & Corporate Affairs Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman on 23rd August, 2019 to arrest economic downturn, the following are noteworthy: * Allow Bharat Stage IV (BS-IV) vehicles (which are purchased till 31st March, 2020) to remain operational for the entire period of registration; * Government shall lift the ban on purchase of new vehicles for replacing all old vehicles by its various departments; *...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Indian economy grew at its slowest pace in more than six years at 5 per cent in the first quarter of 2019-20, deepening worries about subdued factory output and resultant job losses. It also fanned concerns about the Narendra Modi government’s ability to crank up demand amid clear indications that urban consumption had also started to slacken after rural demand went into a deep rut several quarters...

-Livemint.com Around 45% of salaried workers — the best-paid workers in India — earned less than Rs.10,000 per month, and only about 4% of them earned more than Rs.50,000 per month in 2017-18 The much-awaited report of the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) 2017-18 has highlighted the difficult job situation with 6.1% of India’s labour force, and 17.8% of young people (15-29 years) in the labour force reporting to be unemployed. The recently...