ISSN (Print) - 0012-9976 | ISSN (Online) - 2349-8846

Articles by Ritika JainSubscribe to Ritika Jain

Information and Communication Technology and Female Labour Market Participation

Does information and communication technology adoption lead to any broad differences in women’s labour force participation behaviour in India? We use the India Human Development Survey to examine employment decisions of women and find that its adoption leads to improvement in employment measures only for urban women.

Privatisation and the Indian State

With a strong impetus towards privatisation, the current government has been pushing to reduce state ownership across most sectors. The last two years have specifically witnessed the dilution of ownership approach being replaced by a firm resolve to transfer control. This article closely examines the privatisation policy discussed in the previous two economic surveys (2019–20 and 2020–21) that point to the privatisation of all state-owned enterprises operating in non-strategic sectors. Reducing state ownership to the extent of transferring control to private hands for better performing state-owned enterprises is not a well-suited policy decision. It reflects a closer alignment of the government's objective with generating funds for bridging the fiscal deficit/debt gap, by sacrificing future profits for short-term capital gains. In contrast, the Indian CPSE performance revival plan must incorporate a more structured approach that involves segmenting firms into various categories according to past performance, future profitability, industry characteristics, and revival chances. The government should customise the choice of restructuring plan according to these categories and segments.

Privatisation and the Voluntary Retirement Scheme

The voluntary retirement scheme of public sector enterprises is built on the narrative of overstaffing and inefficiency. With Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited being the latest to announce a massive VRS, this article examines the path that led to this package. It argues that it is one of the instruments through which labour flexibility is ushered in public sector enterprises, which often end in privatisation. It also discusses the crucial role that BSNL could take up by virtually connecting the physically distanced in the resistance against the ongoing pandemic.

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