-Newslaundry.com A new survey titled Locked Out notes that 37 percent of rural children are ‘not studying at all’. In the Kumtu tribal hamlet of Jharkhand, eight-year-old Suman, who would now be in Class 3, has not gone to school in nearly two years, owing to the coronavirus-induced lockdown in the country, imposed in March last year. Before the lockdown, when the local government school in her village would open sporadically, Suman...

-The Hindu States seek transparency in GST data. GST collections have crossed ₹1 lakh crore in eleven of the last 12 months, with the government attributing the trend to a rapid economic recovery and improved compliance levels, but economists are unable to analyse these tax numbers as critical data points are no longer shared by the government. Until December 2020, when monthly GST collections were released, the official statement from the Finance Ministry...

Generally, economists refer to indicators like Worker Population Ratio (WPR), Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) and Unemployment Rate (UR) in order to assess the extent of joblessness and work related precarity at a particular period of time in a certain geographical area. However, there are other indicators too, which can help in understanding the job situation, livelihoods security and vulnerability of workers in a better way such as 'percentage distribution...

-Down to Earth Employment in agriculture has increased. Will it lead to shed the belief that agriculture will not be able to employ further? The latest data of the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), a non-government research agency, points out an interesting trend in employment in India. An increasing number of people are joining agriculture for employment in a shift from non-farm sectors like manufacturing and other informal jobs. The CMIE analysis...

-TheWire.in Improved data collection and reporting, appropriate protective gear and better government policies can all help address the problems of sanitation workers. Over the last seven or eight years in India, sanitation has been a key focus of government programmes. Several thousand crores have been spent on the issue and there has been remarkable progress in terms of toilets constructed. The sanitation problem has also received ample attention in the development sector,...