Policy UpdateSairaj Patil Background: The Government of India, under the Apprentices Act, 1961, implements the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS) as one of two flagship Central Sector schemes supporting apprenticeship engagement in the country. Launched in August 2016 and continued…
Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) occupy a central place in India's economy, contributing substantially to GDP, exports, employment generation, and balanced regional development. Yet their heavy reliance on working capital finance, combined with limited financial reserves, leaves them particularly exposed to external economic shocks. A disruption in global supply chains, a spike in input costs, or a bout of geopolitical instability can quickly translate into liquidity shortfalls that threaten production, employment, and business continuity.
Unpaid domestic work has long been the invisible backbone of Indian households, sustaining families and enabling the formal economy to function smoothly. Yet, despite its undeniable importance, the contributions of homemakers have historically been undervalued, often dismissed as “non-economic” activity.
India's tea industry occupies a distinctive place in the country's rural economy. It is the world's largest producer and consumer of black tea, and in 2024 it ranked as the third-largest tea exporter globally, with exports touching ₹7,817.58 crore in FY 2024-25 (Press Information Bureau [PIB], 2026). Yet the sector's economic significance sits alongside a long-standing social burden: tea is a highly labour-intensive plantation crop, employing 11.56 lakh workers in the organised sector alone, with women comprising nearly 58 per cent of this workforce (PIB, 2026). Worker welfare in tea gardens — housing, healthcare, education and social security — has historically been the statutory responsibility of estate managements under the Plantation Labour Act, 1951, with implementation resting largely with state governments.
Before this reform began, India's statute books contained thousands of provisions where relatively harmless lapses, such as a missed filing deadline, an incorrect entry in a register, or a delayed renewal, could technically expose a citizen or a business owner to criminal prosecution and even jail time. Many of these provisions dated back several decades, several tracing back to colonial-era rules or the licence-raj period, and had never been reviewed in light of changing economic conditions. This created what policymakers described as a climate of unnecessary fear, particularly for small businesses and ordinary citizens who had no intention of committing any real wrongdoing.
For decades, the economic narrative of Jammu and Kashmir was confined to the traditional "Big Three": tourism, horticulture, and handicrafts. While these sectors provided a cultural identity and basic livelihood, they remained highly susceptible to external shocks, such as climatic shifts and seasonal volatility. With more than 3.6 lakh educated young people currently seeking employment in the Union Territory (Labour and Employment Department, 2025), the public sector has reached a saturation point, unable to absorb the influx of talent. Historically, this lack of local opportunity forced a significant "brain drain", where graduates from premier local institutions migrated to other Indian states or abroad to pursue their ambitions.
On 21 December 2025, the President of India, Smt. Droupadi Murmu gave assent to the Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, 2025, commonly referred to as VB-G RAM G. The legislation marks one of the most significant shifts in India's rural employment policy since the enactment of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), 2005. While MGNREGA was built around a rights-based guarantee of wage employment, VB-G RAM G seeks to reframe rural employment through a broader approach to livelihoods, asset creation, and rural transformation.