-NetworkIdeas.org The International Labour Organization (ILO) has for some months been bringing out a report that monitors the impact of the pandemic on the world economy, especially the labour-hours lost because of the lockdown and their ramifications. The statistics it provides are not compilations of official data from different countries; they are based on the ILO’s own estimates made with whatever information is available from these countries. One cannot say how...

-Newsclick.in The plight of the migrant worker exploded as a repeating theme in Puja pandals across Kolkata at a time when the central government made its scandalous declaration in Parliament about its “lack of data” about the number of workers who had perished, evading all its responsibility and obligations. Much ink has been spilt over this past week on this sculptural tableau of goddess Durga and her children as a migrant worker...

-The Hindu Business Line The expanded ambit now allows a larger pool of enterprises to get the benefits of the MSME Act and pandemic-induced reforms Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are amongst the strongest drivers of the economy with a vast network of about six crore enterprises, contributing about 45 per cent to manufacturing output, 50 per cent to exports, around 30 per cent to GDP, and creating employment for about...

-Vikalp.ind.in While the country is grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic and the economy is in doldrums, the central government, instead of taking measures to provide immediate relief to the distressed population, has used the opportunity to introduce sweeping changes in the regulatory framework of the agricultural marketing system of the country. On June 3, 2020, the Cabinet approved three ordinances. These ordinances were converted into Acts after they were passed, under...

-NetworkIdeas.org The results of the long-awaited time use survey conducted over January to December 2019 by the NSSO have just been published. This finally allows policy makers and the general public to have some idea of the extent to which unpaid work and other activities determine the lives of people across India. Of course, there are some concerns with the survey methodology, which must be borne in mind while considering the data....