Growth in rural wages not only indicates economic prosperity of the masses, it is also considered important so as to generate effective demand for goods and services, which is produced by various sectors of the economy. When money becomes available in the hands of rural workers due to government spending on programmes such as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), it generates demand for commodities. The production of commodities...

-Down to Earth Three in four Indian women not employed while the gender pay gap is 34 per cent Irrespective of employment category (casual and regular/salaried), organised or unorganised sector, and location (urban and rural), women workers in India are paid a lower Wage rate, says a report by Oxfam, an international non-profit organisation. The gender pay gap was 34 per cent in India, that is, women get 34 per cent less compared...

-The Indian Express The last five years, in other words, have seen a slowdown in rural wages even after adjusting for inflation, which has been far lower than during the UPA regime. Rural wages have grown 3.8 per cent year-on-year in December, the lowest ever for this month. Together with depressed farm prices — annual wholesale inflation in December was minus 0.07 per cent for “food” and 4.45 per cent for...

-Newsclick.in New GDP numbers show the deep agrarian crisis and an economy in doldrums, while unemployment continues to grow. Advance estimates of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the current year 2018-19, and estimates for the third quarter (Sept-Dec 2018) show unmistakeable signs of a slowing economy, despite the flawed method of calculating these estimates. The country’s economy will grow by 7% in the current year which will end this March. Last year...

-Networkideas.org The basic income scheme that is in the air these days, which amounts to handing over a certain sum of money to every household to ensure that it reaches a threshold cash income, is an extremely flawed scheme. Instead of enjoining upon the state the obligation to provide essential goods and services like food, education, and health, to its citizens, it absolves the State of all such responsibility, once it...