Economy

“No one likes to beg, people have started looking for other work; they will not continue to beg,” says a determined Tasvir, trying to mask the suffering and struggle of months and trying to find hope in the bleakest of situations. But does his community really have alternatives? Tasvir belongs to the ‘Pardhi’ tribe, members of which are scattered across Bhopal and its fringes. In an earlier article, we had described how the COVID-induced lockdown had brought them face to face with hunger and malnourishment, making them entirely dependent on the charity of civil society organisations. Deprived of their livelihoods and…

Within a few days of the imposition of the nationwide lockdown in end March, the prices of fruits and vegetables rose perceptibly. As Chennai depends heavily on other districts in Tamil Nadu and other states for its supply of these foods, travel restrictions impacted the transportation leading to the price rise. The pandemic has strongly underlined the need for Chennai to be self-reliant. But how can the city attain that self-sustainability? ‘Who feeds Chennai?’, a body of research conducted by the Urban Design Collective (UDC) -- a collaborative platform for participatory planning to create liveable cities -- during the lockdown,…

A few days after the nation-wide Lockdown began on 24 March, 33-year-old Anita Salve, heard a knock on her door.  Authorities from Jana Small Finance Bank arrived in Chembur’s P. L. Lokhande Marg, where Anita lives, demanding that she repay her personal loan of Rs. 40,000.   She called Yogini Pagare to seek advice. Yogini, another resident of the P L mohalla, fields about ten calls a week from women like Salve. She is associated with Nirdhar, a grassroots group that tackles various issues faced by women who live in the slums of Chembur and Govandi. Yogini asked Anita to put…

The lone Cafe Viibee nestled amidst a rubber plantation, in Kakkanad, Kochi has been silent for months now. With just a few mobile tables and chairs, this cafe had been a buzzing hangout space, frequented by a young crowd of professionals or students in and around the area, but has been closed ever since the COVID-19 pandemic led to a nation-wide lockdown.  Co-owner, actor Byon V K says, “The expectation was that the lockdown would last for a month only, but now after all these months, we have to get back to business somehow. Earlier we did not have home…

M K Rao hails from a lower middle-class Mumbai-based family and needed a job. As luck would have it, soon after he completed his 10th exam in 1970, a friend referred him to a multinational company that was looking for office attendants. Rao’s smattering of English was enough for him to land the job. Given that the staff in that company was unionised and job guarantee was a done deal, he could have continued as an office attendant and retired at the age of 58 after serving the company for 40 years. Most of his fellow office attendants had been…

Translated by Sandhya Raju கோவிட் 19 தொற்றால் பொருளாதாரம் கடும் பாதிப்புக்கு உள்ளாகியுள்ளது. விற்பனையின்மை, இடம்பெயர் தொழிலாளர்கள் தங்கள் சொந்த ஊர்களுக்கு திரும்பியதால் ஏற்பட்டுள்ள தொழிலாளர் தட்டுப்பாடு போன்ற பல காரணங்களால், தொழில்கள் மூடுநிலைக்கு வந்துள்ளது. ஒவ்வொரு நெருக்கடியான தருணத்திலும் வாய்ப்புகள் உருவாகும் என்ற கூற்றின்படி இக்கட்டான இந்த சூழலில் கிருமிநாசினி தெளிப்பான் சேவைக்கான தேவை அதிகரித்துள்ளது. சமூக வலைத்தளத்தில் இதற்காக வரும் விளம்பரங்களே இதற்கு சாட்சி. புதிய வழிகள் சுகாதாரம் மற்றும் குடும்பநல அமைச்சகத்தின் அறிவுறுத்தலின்படி கோவிட்-19 தொற்று உள்ள நபரின் வீடு, கிருமி நாசினியால் சுத்தம் செய்யப்பட வேண்டும். இது சென்னை மாநகராட்சியின் பொறுப்பு என்றாலும், பணியாளர்கள் தட்டுப்பாடால் இப்பணி தாமதமாகிறது. இதனால் தனியார் சேவையை மக்கள் நாடும் நிலை எழுந்துள்ளது. இதன் விளைவாக ஒரு புதிய வர்த்தக வாய்ப்பு உருவாகியுள்ளது. பொது முடக்கத்தால், எம் கான் நடத்தி வந்த லெதர் தொழில் மூடும் நிலைக்கு வந்தது.…

On the narrow and traffic-free roads of Kannagi Nagar, five-year-old Kumar (name changed) plays cricket with a group of boys. Most of them are older to him. As they disperse and leave for their respective homes at lunchtime, Kumar stays back, all alone. Sitting on a small bench by the side of the road, the frail boy waits for new company to play with. When asked if he is not going home for lunch, he shrugs, “Pasi ille (I am not hungry).”  The truth, however, is different -- there is no good food at home. Kumar has been skipping lunch…

Rini Simon Khanna, whose presence and voice are part of most events of substance in the national capital, recently moderated the  United Nations Global Compact’s “Regional Perspectives on Leadership for a Global Crisis: Asia Pacific”. The same evening, she also moderated the launch of the Global Nutrition Report 2020. With one major difference from the past: the well-known former television anchor moderated both these events online. “Most events are already happening online,” said Rini. “Now, all work will be segregated into that which needs F2F (face to face) attendance or physical presence, and that which can be done through online platforms. These events…

India employs 90% of its workforce within the informal labour sector. According to ILO estimates, four million workers are employed as domestic workers (of which three million are women). According to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, more than 10 million people are registered as street vendors. The NSSO survey findings from 2011-12 highlights that there are 37.4 million home-based workers in India. With limited laws and policies governing them they are often left at the mercy of their employers, who have become their proxy social security providers during the pandemic. Over the span of the last three…

There is evidently not much good news floating around in the economy. First, some numbers. In 2019, according to ILO estimates, youth unemployment rate in India was at 10.51%. This figure has hovered around 10% for the past decade. But unemployment rate among the urban youth is much higher. According to data released by the Centre in its Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) 2017-18, unemployment among urban youth in the age group of 15-29 years was at 23.7% in that December quarter, rising consistently over the three previous quarters of that year. If that trend continued, and all reports indicate…