In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, conversations around the ‘future of work’ have deepened, as the way we ‘work’ experiences a period of disruptive change. Labour markets are particularly affected by the disruptions, with deep repercussions on employment and inequality. Women and young people are the hardest hit. In India women and youth were already facing significant challenges to their employment with one of the lowest labour force participation rates in the world. Just to address the unemployment crisis in the country, estimates show that India would need to ensure the creation of 30 million jobs by 2030 , which is almost three times the population of Sweden. The marginalised will have to develop the entrepreneurial attributes needed to self-source their livelihoods in absence of comprehensive policies and support. After all, the least affected, economically speaking, are those who can ride the wave of technological progress.
TOut of the total CO2 emissions of the country, Bihar alone contributes around 35 million tonnes from energy and around 16 million tonnes from the burnt clay brick sector. The latter is slated to rise considering the increased construction activity and the resulting higher consumption of building materials. In Bihar the brick sector is the third highest emitter of CO2, after agriculture and energy. This is due to the present technology of clay brick firing using coal as fuel. Bihar has about 6,602 burnt clay brick kilns which produce approximately 18 billion fired clay bricks annually.
The narrative of the world is often shaped and constructed by the people who run the world in any century. In this highly patriarchal world, men happen to be the authors of the world history, geography and politics by default; leaving a large power gap between the two genders. Today, we live in a world which is beginning to see the potential that women’s participation and emancipation holds for the world at large and yet we are only scratching the surface.
Flash-forward to India 2030, the year by which humankind aims to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Picture Vidya, a 25 year old young woman aspiring to be the future of change, still scrounging for resources, turning to entrepreneurship as a means of subsistence in the by lanes of Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh. In contrast, Rahul, at the same age, in the power corridors of Mumbai, promoting his latest mobile application that will capture data from millions of people such as Vidya and sell it, catapulting Rahul into becoming a darling of global investors.
Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are at the heart of the Indian economy, with significant contribution to national GDP and employment. The SDG framework brought the fundamental role of MSMEs in local and national development to centre stage. Government too has focussed on the business stability and financial sustainability of MSMEs as a priority in the national development plans including giving the sector a special focus in the post pandemic economic revival strategy in 2020.
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