Employment

Recently, the issue of introduction of vedic astrology as an independent, if optional, course programme in universities has come into a great deal of focus (‘Vedic Astrology or Jyotirvigyan’, EPW, June 16, 2001). The protagonists for such an incorporation have presented several engaging arguments in its favour. We do not endorse this view. However, instead of an outright dismissal, we examine here the main tenets of the protagonists’ position, and attempt to establish its inherent vulnerability.

Informal Sector in India: Perspectives and Policies edited by Amitabh Kundu and Alakh N Sharma; Institute for Human Development and Institute of Applied Manpower Research, New Delhi, 2001;

The release of the Provisional Population Totals based on Population Census 2001 necessitates revisions in the estimates of population and of workforce for 1993-94 and 1999-2000 and hence also in the estimates of labour productivity. Besides carrying out the necessary revisions in the size of the workforce (and in labour productivity), this paper offers a detailed industrial distribution of the workforce as well as an occupation distribution of the workforce based on the additional tables now available from the NSS 55th Round Employment-Unemployment Survey.