-News18.com In an interview with News18’s Rupashree Nanda, Dreze, who was a member of Sonia Gandhi’s National Advisory Council and an architect of the National Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), says that there have been no major initiatives in the social field in the last four years, with the partial exception of Swachh Bharat. Government data reveal that the Indian economy is growing at a robust rate but noted economist Jean Dreze believes...

-The Hindu For millions hit by agricultural distress, the escape to construction jobs is grinding to a halt With the Union Budget to be presented on February 1, it is hoped that the Finance Minister will make a significantly higher allocation for investment in infrastructure. It is vital for addressing rural distress. The Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC) informed us that ‘landlessness and dependence on manual casual labour for a livelihood...

In the 3 months period following demonetisation, most job cuts happened for casual workers. This has been confirmed by the Labour Bureau's latest Quarterly Report on Employment Scenario in selected sectors. Although overall employment increased in the 8 major sectors of the economy by 1.85 lakhs between 1st January, 2017 and 1st April, 2017, employment of regular workers (1.97 lakhs) increased the most, followed by employment of contract workers (26,000...

-TheWire.in In January-March 2017, regular jobs rose while jobs for contract workers slowed to 26,000 against 1,24,000 in the previous quarter. New Delhi: The government’s demonetisation of high-value currency notes in November last year affected job creation among daily wagers and contract workers, even as regular jobs continued to grow, shows the latest official survey of enterprises, issued by the Labour Bureau. During January-March 2017, job creation stood at 185,000 against 122,000 in October-December...

-Frontline.in The Assembly elections have put under intense scrutiny Narendra Modi’s Gujarat model of development which is touted as worthy of replication throughout the country. Audit reports of the CAG provide ample evidence of it being inefficient, corrupt and not beneficial to the common people. THE standard indicators of development, as is understood in theory and practice, comprise a range of indices, and not necessarily the level of private investment in...