Dear Alumni,
Taking forward the idea of meeting to discuss themes of relevance, we are planning a session for Alumni in Delhi. The theme proposed by some interested Alumni has been developed and the topic of the session is ‘Political Economy of Labour Statistics (in India / Developing Countries)’. This session will be moderated by Vikas Kumar, Faculty, School of Development at Azim Premji University and Ankush Agarwal, IIT Delhi. Overview of the session below:
Over the past decade, the stagnation of formal sector employment has emerged as a major challenge, amidst widespread agrarian distress, accelerating out-migration from rural areas, deepening educational crisis, and unsatisfactory growth in the manufacturing sector. The hope that India is on the verge of reaping a demographic dividend seems to be giving way to concerns that the large unemployable youthful population could prove to be a serious liability. This has neither checked aspirations of the youth seeking a better life in urban India, nor the willingness of political parties to make tall promises. The gap between aspirations, promises, and reality has been growing, though. This is a perfect setting for the politicisation of employment statistics. In fact, in the aftermath of the controversial demonetisation of high denomination currency notes and the introduction of GST, questions were raised about their impact on employment. There is a need to understand how and how well does India measure the levels of employment. In the proposed session we hope to discuss how the political, economic, and cultural contexts affect the measurement of employment in India and its implications for our understanding of labour problems in the country.
Venue: Room 534, Lecture Hall Complex, IIT Delhi
Time: 2-5 p.m. on Saturday, January 20, 2018 (this session is planned post lunch as the IIT canteen is currently undergoing renovation).
Do share this with other Alumni at Delhi.
Azim Premji University 
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