-Newsclick.in Funds squeeze causes 14-17% refusals every year. The Rural jobs guarantee scheme has emerged as a lifesaver for millions of Indians as they struggle with relentless unemployment. But official data shows that a very large number of job seekers are being turned away and not given work. In the first six months of the current financial year (April to October 2022) nearly 1.5 crore applicants for work were refused work.  This situation...

-Down to Earth Over 2,000 households surveyed across four states; Massive expansion of work scheme needed to meet demand, finds study  About 39 per cent of all job card holders seeking work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), 2005 did not get a single day of work during the national lockdown imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-2021. The findings were revealed by a study conducted by Azim...

-The Telegraph ‘Hundreds of workers have left for other states and more are following them these days' Siliguri: The trend of out-migration from Bengal — often linked to the lack of employment opportunities in the state — is back in different districts after the Covid-19-induced gap of two years. Senior government officials and elected representatives at rural bodies in a number of districts admitted that they were witnessing the exodus of workers, who...

-Down to Earth Access to water, better infra drive marriage prospects as women yearn for more 'comfortable' lives Floods, droughts, floods again — Marathwada farmers have suffered at the hands of extreme weather events for decades. Their economic standings have taken a beating too, which has led to a unique problem: The chances of men from the affected villages getting married has started to thin.   Years of droughts and erratic rains have heavily...

-Newsclick.in The share of the working-age population that is actually working is still less than in pre-pandemic times. The latest data on unemployment has been met with optimism, and near-celebration, especially in the mainstream media, which is straining at the leash to portray some good news about the economy under the Narendra Modi government. September’s unemployment rate fell to 6.43% from August’s 8.3%, according to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE)—both...