Economy

Off the busy NSC Bose Road opposite the Madras High Court building, run two streets parallel to each other. On any work day, you would find a stream of loadmen carrying wrapped packages on bullock carts and rickshaws on these streets, even as two-wheelers snake their way in and out and shoppers walk leisurely past. There's not much to distinguish the streets from any other commercial locality on Broadway just by the looks of it.  The real uniqueness lies elsewhere. These two streets -- Prakasam Salai and Baker Street host hundreds of wholesale optical stores.  From the cutting of lens…

There was a time when you could build a long. successful career by focusing on one narrow domain in which you were an expert. For example, you could start in accounts, move up to finance, then to the board and may be the MD’s suite. That changed some decades back when managements began to realise that an ‘I’-shaped knowledge base was not enough in a changing world. Companies started rotating people from finance to manufacturing to marketing before considering a person suitable for the corner office or the ‘C’ suite. In line with this, business schools created the ‘T’ shaped learning…

“Marina beach has been our home for almost 40 years. We have done different kinds of business here to support our families. Whether during the rains or the harsh Chennai summers, we continued our trade to feed our kids. If we are forced to leave this place, what shall we do?” says a distraught S Kalyani, as she slices fruits to be sold at her stall on Marina beach. At present, the beach accommodates more than 2430 carts used as vending stalls and even has 200 inactive spots. The majority among the vendors belong to the fishermen community, while some…

“COVID-19 has hit us really hard, we are finding it really difficult to survive,” says B.S. Ranawat, owner of a tour agency in Jaipur . “I had three branch offices in Jaipur but had to shut down two of them, release a majority of the staff and take credit from the family for payment of loans. I have lost 80% of my business,”says Ranawat, who worked with Railways in Delhi, had come back to Jaipur in 2007 and started his own tour agency. Today, his business and dreams seem to be falling apart because of the impact of COVID-19 on…

During the scorching summer months of 2020, Indian TV media and websites broadcast visuals of migrant workers walking back to their villages. Commentators lamented how workers who shoulder the economic burden of the city remain tenuously compensated. Now - nine months after the lockdown was first announced - workers have returned to the city but the media spotlight has shifted. Details about available work, working conditions, and wages remain shrouded in mystery.  A city-based workers collective, Aajeevika Bureau, has mapped the informal workforce in Mumbai's Khairani road and nearby areas. Their research throws four broad findings: some returning migrants have…

The concept of a ‘gap year’ is unheard of in India. I remember a friend who had joined IIT Madras with me, taking a gap year when we hit the last semester. He took six years to graduate but unlike many of us, he stayed true to his chosen discipline of Mechanical Engineering. That was in college. What about a ‘gap year’ at work, in your career? Most HR executives while interviewing candidates do not look kindly on a gap in the resume. This is generally viewed as being unemployed after being sacked from the previous job. But COVID-19 has,…

Nirmala Mary is the sole bread winner of her five-member family. Her husband is ill and her eldest son lost his job in the fallout of the COVID-19 economic crisis. A resident of S M Nagar slum near Chennai Central, she works at a government hospital and takes home Rs 11,000 per month. A majority of her income is spent on buying essential commodities and paying rent. In such a scenario, the skyrocketing prices of vegetables in the city has been the proverbial last straw. Not just Nirmala's, but low and middle income families across the city are struggling to balance…

In Part 1 and Part 2 of our present focus on Municipal Finance, we learnt about the sources of funds for the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) and the strategies adopted by the civic body recently to increase the collection of property tax in the city.  Property tax is a complex subject. In 2018, citizens strongly opposed the property tax revision that was done after two decades. Why was this revision important? How is GCC meeting the increased expenditure needs (due to COVID-19 and Cyclone Nivar)?  We spoke to Deputy Commissioner (Revenue & Finance), Meghanath Reddy to understand more on the…

The cloudy skies in recent weeks had Vijaykumar Lokhande scurrying to his fields in Mhada taluka in Solapur district. A page layout artist in the city at normal times, he also does farming to supplement his earnings. “I grow pulses and millets like jowar in my five acres of land,” says Vijaykumar. “This year, I am growing tur dal and the excess rainfall helped tur. I have a job in Pune, so I decided to plant tur dal, which doesn’t require my daily presence”. Pune city gets its vegetables, pulses and milk supply from Mulshi, Solapur, Satara, Baramati, Kolhapur etc.…

“When my 12-year-old daughter queued up to collect food, I decided enough is enough,” says Khatoon Shabana. From March 2010 to 24 March 2020, Shabana cooked and served meals to Dharavi's cottage industry and mini-factory workers. But when the workers left for their villages during the lockdown, Shabana's bhishi or home mess service also shut down. On the day when Shabana’s daughter waited in line to receive food packets, Shabana resolved to find another way to earn money. “Someone suggested that I sell bananas,” Shabana recalls. The idea was appealing but her family was skeptical. “My husband said no one…