-The Hindu In the last few months, the industries have seen 30% to 40% fall in orders Coimbatore: Micro and small-scale enterprises here have appealed to the Central and State Governments not to re-introduce restrictions even as COVID-19 cases rise in the country. Coimbatore District Small Industries Association president M.V. Ramesh Babu said the raw material prices have seen a slight drop and workers are available for the current level of orders. In...

-The Hindu Business Line At present, panchayats make no contribution to the design of schemes. Their autonomy is negligible. This needs to change Decentralisation has long been recognised as an efficient instrument for promoting economic democracy, and delivering services to meet the needs of people. There are three different channels for decentralisation — political, administrative and fiscal. Political decentralisation promotes trust and cooperation between government agencies and citizens. Administrative decentralisation enables authority...

-The Hindu Redistribution measures have been ineffective and there are no policies discouraging accumulation of income and wealth The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the stark divide between the rich and the poor. At this juncture, evaluating the state of inequality serves as an eye-opener on the income/wealth divides prevailing across regions. Such divides are represented in terms of the share of income/wealth among the top 10% of the population against the bottom...

-The Telegraph Shortage of funds that was being cited was a gross violation of the law: Swaraj Abhiyan The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to examine an NGO’s plea that crores of workers were in a crisis as funds-starved states had run up wage dues of Rs 9,682 crore under the Centre’s flagship 100-day job scheme MGNREGA that has witnessed an increase in beneficiaries because of the pandemic. A bench of Chief Justice...

-TheWire.in The report by the CHRI urges India to ratify the Domestic Workers Convention or 'C189' as a step towards streamlining national protections for an enormous sector that is largely left to fend for itself.  New Delhi: While domestic workers across the world have suffered in the COVID-19 pandemic, the astounding lack of overarching legal or policy provisions in India to safeguard their wellbeing has meant a dire downward spiral for men...