Demand for work under NREGS rises in February
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Experts say the resurgence of Covid-19 cases, unavailability of vaccines for the working population and muted consumer demand could cause the labour market to remain unstable for at least three more quarters.
AFP
The February demand was highest after the three peak Covid-19 lockdown months of May, June and July, which had seen a surge following the nationwide lockdown.
Demand for work under the rural employment guarantee scheme rose in February, suggesting that labour markets remain unstable amid prospects of a sharp economic recovery in the next fiscal year.
The job crunch and the growing fires of nativism
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March 15, 2021 01:10 IST
Unless States in India have the autonomy to create jobs, they will only resort to reserving existing jobs for locals
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Unless States in India have the autonomy to create jobs, they will only resort to reserving existing jobs for locals
The Haryana government has recently passed legislation that mandates companies in Haryana to provide jobs to local Haryanvis first, before hiring people from outside the State.
The unemployment rate in Haryana is the highest of all States in India, as per data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, or CMIE. A whopping 80% of women in Haryana who want to work cannot find a job. More than half of all graduates in Haryana are jobless. The jobs situation in Haryana is staggeringly dismal.
Mumbai s Koli fisherwomen are a close knit community. | Paroma Soni
One year ago, Hema Bhanji sat wearily outside her home, a makeshift two-story building in the crowded, twisting alleyways of the Versova Koliwada, Mumbai’s oldest fishing village. She was slicing deftly through the last of her fish, caught on the boat’s final trip before the Covid-19 pandemic arrived on India’s shores.
By her side was a woman nearly 30 years younger, helping to clean the catch while hesitantly eyeing the chunks of surmai being tossed into a plate. Hema sighed and looked at her friend with exasperation. “Take the fish. Staring at it won’t fill you up.” Nearly in tears, the woman thanked Hema and hurried across the road to her family. She had to cook the fish before her husband woke up from his evening nap. As for herself, Hema went to bed hungry that night. “One empty stomach is better than five,” she said simply.
CMIE data shows the index of consumer sentiments stood at 55.1 in February, half the pre-lockdown levels. Consumer sentiment index stood at 105.3 in February 2020, which was just a month before the lockdown.