Insights, a blog published by IMPRI.
Policy UpdatePragya Raghav Abstract India hosted the BRICS Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on 14-15 May 2026 at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, marking the first ministerial meeting of its 2026 chairship (MEA, 2026). Chaired by External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar,…
Madhya Pradesh, located in central India, has Bhopal as its capital and is the second-largest state in India by area and the fifth-largest by population, with more than 72 million residents. The state has a diversified economy driven by agriculture, mining, manufacturing, tourism and services. It is one of India’s leading agricultural producers, particularly in pulses, oilseeds and soybean, and has significant mineral resources, including large reserves of diamonds and copper. Madhya Pradesh has a projected GSDP of ₹18.48 lakh crore for 2026–27, representing a nominal growth rate of 11% over the revised 2025-26 estimate(PRS Legislative Research).
Women’s economic insecurity is shaped by more than the absence of a regular wage. Many women manage food purchases, children’s schooling, health care, care work and household budgeting, often without independent control over income. This is particularly important in households dependent on informal work, seasonal employment, small farming or irregular daily earnings. State governments have increasingly responded to this gap through direct benefit transfer programmes that credit cash directly into women’s bank accounts.
India has witnessed a gradual increase in women's Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR), particularly following the introduction of the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) in 2017–18. However, this increase has not been accompanied by a corresponding expansion of secure and formal employment opportunities. Instead, a significant proportion of women remain concentrated in informal and low-paid occupations characterized by irregular employment, unstable incomes, and inadequate social protection. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO, 2018), more than 61 per cent of the world's employed population, representing nearly 2 billion workers, are engaged in informal employment. While globally 58 per cent of employed women and 63 per cent of employed men work in the informal economy, the prevalence of informal employment is considerably higher in developing countries, where 92 per cent of employed women and 87 per cent of employed men are employed informally. These statistics demonstrate that women are disproportionately employed in informal jobs in developing nations, which leaves them more susceptible to low pay, precarious work, insufficient labour rights, and restricted social security benefits.
India's demographic dividend is the biggest economic asset that the country has but a long-standing mismatch between academic learning and industry demanded skills has been a longstanding issue of restricting the employment of the youth. The Government of India's primary intervention has been the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS), a flagship Central Sector Scheme (CSS) of Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), which was started in August 2016 under Apprentices Act, 1961 and relaunched as NAPS 2.0 in FY 2022-23 to expand the outreach, easy disbursal of stipend and increase penetration into Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
Policy UpdateSruti Halder Abstract The illicit drug trade has emerged as a transnational security and public health threat, with the UNODC recording 316 million drug users globally in 2023, a historic high. As BRICS expanded to eleven members by 2025,…
PM Kisan is a Central Sector scheme with 100% funding from Government of India.
Under the scheme which became operational from 1.12.2018, an income support of 6,000/- per year in three equal installments will be provided to all land holding farmer families. Definition of family for the scheme is husband, wife and minor children.