The Aakhya Weekly #14 | Digital India: The Labour Edition
The Aakhya Weekly #14 | Digital India: The Labour Edition
Policy Pulse is now The Aakhya Weekly! New name, same depth of insight.
In Focus: The Grand Digital Gambit of Indian Labour
It would come as a surprise to nobody that Indian labour is in the doldrums. India’s 138 crore people are supported by a mere 39.5 crore workers, with its labour force participation rate hovering well below 40%. Even in this diminished workforce, unemployment is high. In August, according to the CMIE, India had an unemployment rate of 8.3%. Employment, too, is hardly a panacea. An estimated 92% of Indian employment is ‘informal’, bereft of written contracts, statutory benefits or any other protections.
An unenviable position, naturally, for anyone tasked with labour regulation.
India is attempting a variety of approaches to fixing its labour woes, including a widely publicised replacement of the entire body of its central labour laws. Less known, however, is its expansive digital program aimed at eliminating inefficiencies and finding synergies in labour regulation. The program has two facets: (a) linking various databases to bring efficiency to the delivery of benefits, primarily to informal workers, and (b) creating a pipeline through which India’s primarily low-skill workforce can be upskilled and matched with employers.
Last year, the Government set up the ‘e-Shram portal’, in a bid to create a database of India’s approximately 380 million unorganised workers, seeded with Aadhar data. The portal has seen approximately 280 million registrations in the one year of its existence, or 75% of India’s workforce. The scope of the portal has also been expanded, since, to include gig and platform workers.
While once a mere database, the portal has subsequently been transformed into a node for service delivery. Registered workers are now given access to personal accident insurance, term insurance, pension schemes, health insurance, financial inclusion schemes, job guarantee programs and more. Universal schemes, such as the PDS and Ayushman Bharat, are also now administered through the portal.
To remove redundancies in building separate databases for different initiatives, meanwhile, the e-Shram portal is now being linked to a variety of other portals, including the National Career Service portal, the ASEEM portal for mapping skilled workers and the Udyam portal, for registration of MSMEs. This interlinked ecosystem can now be leveraged by workers, businesses and the Government alike.
Going ahead, the Government is scaling up its ambitions, hoping to universalise social security for unorganised workers. To this end, last week, it initiated discussions on linking e-Shram data with state databases of unorganised workers. Once completed, the portal can serve as a one-stop shop for all schemes for the benefit of unorganised workers.
In light of India’s brewing employability crisis, meanwhile, India is setting up the Digital Ecosystem for Skilling and Livelihood (DESH) stack. Part of the Skill India program, the DESH stack provides digital infrastructure for the entire skilling value chain. Built atop other public databases under the Digital India initiative, it has three layers: (a) trust, which allows easy validation of credentials, (b) finance, which enables benefit transfer, scholarships, rewards etc., and (c) discovery, which allows stakeholders to find others in the ecosystem. Various platforms and applications can link to the stack and perform a variety of functions - from offering training programs, to disbursing loans and scholarships, to offering employment opportunities. The portal aspires to skill 10 crore people in the coming five years.
India is often described as currently having a ‘demographic dividend’, a period for which its overwhelmingly young and rapidly growing workforce, if used well, can quickly catapult it to prosperity. Numerous inefficiencies and redundancies, however, threaten to make this a ‘demographic disaster’, with an increasing number of people remaining unemployed every year. To get to the former rather than the latter requires a revolutionary transformation of our labour landscape. India’s digital gambit might just be that change.
Top Stories of the Week
No fresh regulations in Cable TV distribution, TRAI recommends to MIB
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on 7 September 2022 released its recommendations to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) following its Consultation Paper on “Market Structure/Competition in cable TV services”. The TRAI has recommended that there is sufficient competition in the cable TV sector at present and that there is no need for any further regulation or corrective measures; however, developments may be monitored and intervention (if necessary and appropriate) may be considered at a future date.
The regulator has also recommended that the Government explicitly amend the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 “to facilitate and promote sharing of cable infrastructure by local cable operator[s] with Telecom Service Providers to enable last mile for provision of broadband services.” Further, TRAI reiterated its earlier recommendations that registration local cable operators (LCOs) be digitised and facilitated through an online portal rather than the existing regime of registration of LCOs at the local post offices. It has said that online registration will be smooth and hassle-free, and will facilitate greater oversight by MIB and TRAI on the operations of LCOs in India.
Indigenisation of Indian Defence, Key to Strategic Autonomy in Indian Foreign Policy
On the 2nd of September, in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, INS Vikrant was inaugurated. This is India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier, made under India’s Atmanirbhar vision. Building India’s own indigenous defence systems is essential in order to tackle any future threats to India’s military priorities, including supply chain disruptions and embargoes from arm suppliers.
While India has previously manufactured tanks, artillery and other weaponry indigenously, the more aggressive push to become self-reliant in defence, under the Modi government, has the ability to not only safeguard India’s defence priorities but also eventually make it a hub for defence manufacturing, exporting to major destinations in the region.
Local manufacturing of defence weaponry also provides India a sense of strategic autonomy, giving it far greater leverage while making geopolitical decisions in the multipolar global order.
Cabinet nod for long-leasing railway land under PM GatiShakti
Union Minister Anurag Singh Thakur announced the Cabinet’s approval of a policy for long-leasing of railway lands under the PM GatiShakti. The policy is expected to help set up 300 cargo terminals, while generating 1.25 lakh employment opportunities.
Extending the current allowance of only up to 5 years, the new policy will now allow leasing of railway lands up to 35 years while also cutting the fee down to a maximum of 1.5 percent from the existing 6 percent. These significant changes are expected to bring in much benefit in light of the ongoing efforts to privatise the Container Corporation of India, as lands may now be leased in a more cost-effective manner to strategic buyers.
This Week in Policy
Macroeconomics and Taxation
India’s manufacturing PMI for August was 56.2, while its services PMI clocked even higher, at 57.2. These figures demonstrate confidence in the economy, as any figure over 50 indicates an expansion.
The Reserve Bank of India and the Ministry of Finance are working together on creating a 25 year roadmap to make India an advanced economy.
The Government has been instructed to draw up an action plan for the divestment or winding up of PSUs where cabinet approval has been received. According to the CAG, in the year 2019-20, a total of 181 state-run companies had a combined net loss of Rs. 68,434 crore.
Labour
India’s unemployment rate for the month of August shot up to a one-year high of 8.3%, from 6.8% in July, as per the CMIE. The month saw increases in unemployment in both, urban and rural areas.
Agriculture and FMCG
Telangana govt., in partnership with Bengaluru IISc, to create Agricultural Data Exchange (ADEx) to enable more credit options, better insurance products, improved seed tracking and more targeted farming advisories for farmers in the state.
The Government constitutes a 47 member panel for drafting the ‘National Cooperation Policy’, aimed at realising its vision of ‘Sahakar Se Samridhi’. The policy shall bolster India’s ecosystem of cooperative societies.
Healthcare
The National Medical Council has [dubbed](https://theprint.in/india/national-medical-commission-bans-conversion-therapy-calls-it-professional-misconduct/1115241/?) ‘conversion therapy’ as an act of professional misconduct. The development came in response to orders by the Madras High Court, directing the council to improve the lives of the queer community.
India hits pause on plans for the emergency purchase of Monkeypox vaccines, as the spread of the disease has come under control.
Foreign affairs
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had a fruitful visit to India this week, with 7 MoUs signed between India and Bangladesh in areas such as railways, science & technology, space technology, and broadcasting
Minister of External Affairs, Dr. S. Jaishankar addressed the 5th edition Australia-India Leadership Dialogue 2022, held on 5 September.
Technology, Media and Telecommunications
Brad Smith, Microsoft president and vice-chairman, has applauded India (one of the top software economies in the world) for “pausing on the privacy Bill”, calling it an “act of wisdom” as it would give the government time to connect the dots on the all-round impact of such a legislation.
The National Company Law Tribunal has directed Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) to convene a virtual shareholder meeting on 14 October at 4 pm to get their approval for a proposed merger between Zeel and Sony Pictures Networks India.
International trade and commerce
Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal is on a week-long visit to the United States to attend the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum conference and the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) Ministerial Meeting.
The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) and the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) have signed an MoU to promote B2B cooperation between India and Bangladesh.
Banking, Finance and Insurance
RBI to take up pilot project for end-to-end digitization of Kisan Credit Card (KCC) lending, aiming to speed up loan turnaround time.
Public sector banks to open 316 branches by December 2022 to scale up financial inclusion drive.
Manufacturing
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has approved an Electronics Manufacturing Cluster (EMC) in Pune at an estimated cost of Rs. 500 Cr, and is expected to attract investments of up to Rs. 20,000 Cr.
The much-awaited incentives under the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for mobile manufacturers are set to be released, with the empowered group scheduled to meet on 9 September 2022 to take the final call.
Retail and e-commerce
NTT DATA Payment Services recieves an approval from the Reserved Bank of India for Payment Aggregator license
Upcoming foreign trade policy likely to have an entire chapter dedicated to e-commerce and digital transactions.
Logistics
Union Minister for Road, Transport and Highways announces plans to build a multimodal logistics park at Ranjani in Western Maharashtra.
Chunar Logistics Park to cater to various carpet and handicraft industries in Chunar, Mirazapur and other surrrounding areas - MoS for Commerce and Industry
Sustainability
National Green Tribunal orders West Bengal to pay Rs. 3,500 crore fine for damaging the environment. Currently, over 1490 MLD of sewage is left untreated daily.
Govt. to soon invite bids for 1000 MW battery storage project and launch a PLI scheme for grid-level renewable energy storage technologies.
Upcoming Events
Energy Transition Summit - Towards Green India
September 13-14 | YMCA Cultural Centre and Library Building, New Delhi
ASSOCHAM is organising The Energy Transition Summit - Towards Green India from September 13-14, 2022 at the YMCA Cultural Centre and Library Building, New Delhi to discuss technological innovations in generation and market mechanisms, pathways to grid modernisation and low carbon transportation systems, and understanding policy reforms to strengthen generation, transmission, and distribution sectors. Shri. R. K. Singh, Union Minister for Power, New & Renewable Energy, GoI will be present among other high profile speakers. Read more | Registration Link
Digital Security: Need of the Hour
September 9 | Pragati Maidan, New Delhi
PHD Chamber of Commerce & Industry (PHDCCI), in association with Indian Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) and Heritage Cyberworld is organising a national conference on ‘Digital Security: Need of the Hour’ on September 09, 2022 from 10:30 am onwards during the 23rd Indian National Security Expo at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi to discuss different aspects of digital security in light of India’s accelerated push for digitization while simultaneously topping the list among the countries facing cyber-attacks specially since the time of pandemic. Read more | Registration Link
19th Capital Markets Conference
September 13 | Trident Hotel, Mumbai
FICCI is organising Capital Markets Conference 2022 on 13th September, 2022 from 9 AM onwards at the Trident Hotel, Mumbai on the theme of ‘Amrit Kaal: Roadmap for Capital Markets for India’s century’. Deep and vibrant Indian capital markets have been critical in ensuring India’s status as one of the world’s fastest growing economies, and CAPAM seeks to continue this trend. The conference will provide an opportunity to the entire capital market ecosystem, from policy makers and regulators to institutional investors and market intermediaries to contribute to the agenda. Read more | Registration Link
A Few Good Reads
Swaminathan SA Aiyar dives into the revadi debate, pointing to the thin line between good and bad subsidies.
The perennially fascinating Ajay Shah discusses the possibility of small nuclear reactors as a [game-changer](https://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/a-new-dawn-for-nuclear-energy-122090400913_1.html?) in energy generation.
Former CCP insider Cai Xia, in this fascinating long read, describes the rise of Xi Jinping and raises concerns with his leadership.
This hard-hitting piece by Umair Javed in Dawn examines the trust deficit between the Pakistan government and its citizens, and whether it is justified in the context of managing calamities in the aftermath of the floods that ravaged the country last week.
Kevin Roose sketches a panorama of what artificial intelligence is now capable of.
Tweets of the Week
An excellent thread from Rahul Bajoria explores why we changed the method of GDP calculation in 2014, and unpacks the controversies since:
In the context of the immense water-logging across Bengaluru this week, Srinivas Alavilli takes a brief look at local governance and what citizens can do to make a difference:
Anand Sankar chimes in with the connection between Bengaluru’s topography, indiscriminate construction and water-logging:
Key Notifications
Major administrative rejig in Haryana with 16 officers transferred. Uttar Pradesh also reshuffles its bureaucracy with two separate notifications (here and here) moving over 20 IAS officers.
MoEFCC hands a two-year extension to thermal power plants to meet Sulphur Dioxide emissions norms.
TRAI releases recommendations on market structure and competition in cable TV services.
Finance Department under Delhi govt announces a merger of responsibilities for the Principal Secretary (Revenue)-cum Divisional Commissioner, Delhi, who will now have to take on the role of Inspector General of Registration and Chief Controlling Revenue Authority for the National Capital Territory of Delhi