News Room

India is advancing social security for online gig workers, but this marks only a reactive step in addressing the evolving nature of informal work. JJN’s Renjini Rajagopalan writes for The Hindu highlighting the need for a more inclusive, universal social protection system to ensure no worker is left behind, especially as new worker categories emerge.

India's Union Budget 2025 attempts to drive economic growth and investment by giving tax breaks to individuals, corporates and start-ups. Sabina Dewan shares her remarks on these measures and makes a case for the need to focus on sustainable and implementable policy framework focussed on creating good quality jobs.

JJN’s Sabina Dewan writes on the urgent need to bridge the gap between growth and quality of jobs for the Indian working-age population. Labour market in India is failing to generate enough high-quality jobs for its large and growing population; at the same time employers struggle to find workers with the right skills for the job openings they have. Highlighting the growing extent of precarity in the nature of available work in the country, she makes the case for adopting a ground-up approach for job creation.

JJN’s Sabina Dewan writes on the expanding e-commerce ecosystem in India and its effect on MSMEs of the country. From the perspective of micro, small and medium enterprises, that are dealing with tech disruptions to stay in business and the 111 million jobs they support, she calls for appropriate and effective regulations to enable more inclusive growth of e-commerce.

While tech platforms have eased our lives, too little attention is paid to a growing inequity. Capital gets to multiply, but gig workers are left at a disadvantage as they’re not treated as employees and lack labour protection under the law. This capital-labour imbalance needs to be addressed.

This report is the first in a series of three reports, undertaken in collaboration with the Fiscal Policy Institue, Government of Karnataka. It investigates the effectiveness of Shakti Scheme – the fare-free transit policy in the state of Karnataka – on women’s labour force participation, access to better-quality jobs, and perceived change in agency due to higher mobility and financial savings.

JJN’s Centre for Gender Analysis, in partnership with Fiscal Policy Institute, released first in a series of three reports to understand the impact of Karnataka state’s scheme on fare free bus rides for women on their access to work opportunities and economic participation.

JJN’s Centre for Gender Analysis, in partnership with Fiscal Policy Institute, released its first report reviewing the effect of Karnataka state’s Shakti scheme on women’s economic empowerment. The study is based on primary survey of 786 women using the service across various districts in the state and highlights nuances of how the scheme has enabled economic freedom for its users.

JJN’s Centre for Gender Analysis, in partnership with Fiscal Policy Institute, released its first report reviewing the effect of Karnataka state’s Shakti scheme on women’s economic empowerment. The report highlights changes in transit patterns based on caste and work profiles of the study participants since the launch of the scheme.

JJN Fellow Kaushiki Sanyal was featured on the Policy in Practice podcast hosted by SPRF. In this conversation, Kaushiki highlighted the processes, projects and partnerships through which The Centre for Gender Analysis, an initiative by the JustJobs Network, aims to enhance women's economic empowerment.