Publication Page Archive

India has disappointed itself hugely in the way it handled the migrant labour issue. Why is the government being so tight-fisted in its support for the poor? Scenes of migrant labour returning home thirsty hungry and helpless shall be a scar on India forever. Images of men women and children walking in 44 degrees Celsius...   Read More

This sector has developed locally without following global standards.  Most players agree that setting standards and their voluntary adoption are the only way for reducing costs After the extended lockdown necessitated by the need to contain the spread of the deadly Coronavirus in the country the process of kick-starting the economy has now commenced in...   Read More

Reverse migration is one side of the story. Workers with chronic ailments residing within States can also pose a risk Labour as a factor of production is a valuable service rendered by a human agent in the production of goods and services. The outcome is generation of wealth and welfare. In common parlance the term...   Read More

Surveys show that the govt’s support schemes do not reach such households. Direct cash transfers and universal PDS will help As details of the stimulus package recently announced by Nirmala Sitharaman begin to emerge it appears that there is a serious mismatch between the areas and groups most affected by the Covid-related lockdown and the...   Read More

If Bihar’s example is anything to go by simply repealing the APMC Act is not enough to benefit farmers. There is a need to move from notional to functional FPOs In the Covid-19 relief package finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has focused on a number of capacity building measures for the agriculture sector—such as the Agriculture...   Read More

We may have to take recourse to some extraordinary sources to finance the exceptional spending needed to revive growth Policymakers have to decide if they want higher growth along with other pain points or a little less growth but also less pain that would have to be borne later on In my column last month...   Read More

It’s less egalitarian than TV in delivering education. Net-based learning holds promise provided the digital ecosystem improves The NCAER Skills Report 2018 discussed the immense potential of online learning albeit as complementary to more traditional methods. In the current situation online education is turning out to be a substitute to traditional modes. Is India ready...   Read More

Survey asks what activities respondents would resume if lockdown gets lifted on May 4 The National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) an economic policy research institute on Thursday launched the second round of Delhi National Capital Region Coronavirus Telephone Survey (DCVTS). The results of this second round will be released on May 2. “The...   Read More

When asked about how many people they had come in contact with outside the house over the preceding 24 hours over 50 per cent responded that they had not come in contact with anyone. With the nation in the midst of an extended lockdown to prevent the spread of COVID-19 the question of what to...   Read More

Gender-based consequences of Coronavirus make it imperative for both the administration and social networks to ensure that the pandemic does not negate the gains of gender equality Even after the conclusion of the first phase of the three-week nationwide lockdown imposed by the Government and its further extension up to May 3 to curb the...   Read More