Category Center for Work and Welfare

governance

Post-Maoism and the State: The Future of Governance in Affected Regions

Niranjan Sahoo India’s Fifth Schedule areas became the hotbed of Maoist insurgencies due to administrative neglect, exacerbating discontent and a lack of representation of tribal groups in local bodies. Effective governance is crucial to address these issues and mitigate the…

Labour

The Pro-Business Pivot: How Modern Labour Codes Prioritize Industry Over Protection

That Labour Codes will create a divide between workers and businesses was a given. The former have opposed them since 2019 when the Code on Wages was passed by parliament followed by the other three in 2020 – the Industrial Relations Code, the Code on Social Security and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code. Businesses have been pressing for their implementation since then because they know they will benefit from them. The government presents these Codes as beneficial to labour since they are supposed to simplify a very complex and outdated system. 

Cancer

Expanding the Definition: The Case for Recognizing Cancer-Related Disabilities in India

India is witnessing a troubling paradox. Advances in diagnosis and treatment mean that more people are surviving cancer than ever before. Yet the very systems that should protect these patients and survivors are failing to recognise the lasting impact of cancer on their lives.

Copy of Insights 1

From Relief to Reform to Resilience: Assessing PM-SVANidhi’s Policy Trajectory

When we speak of successful government initiatives of the past decade, popular missions like the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) usually dominates the conversation. Yet, quietly, another programme has been impacting the lives of the millions of India’s urban street vendors, who sustain the everyday economy of Indian cities.

Air

The Air That Betrayed Me: A Personal Reckoning with Delhi’s Toxicity

November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month. Across the US and Europe, white ribbons mark solidarity with patients, caregivers, advocates and doctors. In India, silence reigns, even though 93 of the world’s 100 most polluted cities are here, and here, lung cancer is rising alarmingly among non-smokers, especially young women.

Nearly one in three lung cancer patients in India today has never smoked, and doctors are seeing women in their late 20s and 30s being diagnosed with advanced disease.

This is not a smoker’s disease anymore — it is a breather’s disease, driven by toxic air and environmental exposures.

Trump

Trump, AI and the Global Growth Test of 2026

Earlier this month, Sam Altman of OpenAI declared Code Red at the company: the latest version of its chatbot was underperforming Google’s latest offering, Gemini 3. That panic had one simple explanation: he believes artificial intelligence (AI) to be yet another technology service in which the winner takes all.

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