Wages of Casual Workers and Self-Employed Workers in India
An article in two parts, that examines the trends in real wages of casual workers and self-employed workers in rural and urban India, before the pandemic, during the pandemic and after.
In the Chokehold of a Wood-Fired Stove
With little access to clean cooking fuel, many women in Nagpur’s Chikhali slum are now prone to respiratory diseases, breathing difficulties and damaged lungs.
Healthcare Costs are Forcing Indians into Debt and Distress Sales
In India, out-of-pocket expenditure of people on health was more than the government’s expenditure on health, according to the Economic Survey 2022. Over 63 million Indians are faced with poverty every year due to health costs alone, according to government estimates.
MGNREGA Flounders in Fund Crunch and Tech Trap Squeeze
Mandatory digital attendance has led to 10% decline in work. Also: Press Release by the NREGA Sangharsh Morcha.
Not All Rides are Equal: The Daily Exploitation of Uber Drivers
Exploited, underpaid and unrepresented, Uber drivers face stark disparities within, even as the company’s profits soar.
Who Does a Good Crop Benefit? Not Farmers. Two Articles.
A good harvest is no longer good for farmers. It benefits traders, hoarders, middlemen, and corporations more. Without government safeguards through MSP and public procurement, the “free-market” system is rigged against farmers.
The “Hindu Rate of Growth”: Then and Now
There is a fundamental difference between the comparatively low growth-rate of the earlier dirigiste period (pre-1990s) and that of the current neoliberal period.
A New Dawn? Can India Reverse Its Staggering Inequality?
How long will India’s working people live with a policy regime that concentrates unimaginable levels of wealth in a few hands and leaves millions of people struggling for food, healthcare, decent schooling, work, and pensions when they age?
Hindutva Development Model vs Dravidian Rights-Based Welfare: Looking Beyond the ‘Freebies’ Debate
Hindutva has reduced citizens to passive political subjects where people devote themselves to the leader’s ascribed duties towards the nation’s development.
Modi Claims 2004 to 2014 Was India’s ‘Lost Decade’. Is That True?; Also: Rising Suicides Among Poor
The number of poor fell sharply during this earlier period, and has risen in recent years. Also: “Daily Wage Earners, Housewives Among Largest Categories of People to Die by Suicide in 2019-21.”