The Draft Shram Shakti Niti 2025 & Cyclone Montha

1. Critically examine the paradox between digital ambition and social reality in India’s labour market in light of forced labour, informal employment, and the need for inclusive social protection.

IN NEWS: Exploited workers, a labour policy’s empty promises – The draft Shram Shakti Niti 2025 further exposes the gaps in India’s labour landscape

India’s labour landscape is marked by a digital push through initiatives such as e-SHRAM, National Career Service (NCS), and the proposed Shram Shakti Niti 2025, aimed at universalising welfare and job access. However, this ambition clashes with persistent ground realities of forced labour, informality, and social exclusion.

The Digital Ambition

• The government aims for “future-ready” labour governance with digital platforms for job-matching, skill certification, and social security.
• Proposals include a Universal Social Security Account (USSA) integrating EPFO, ESIC, PM-JAY, and e-SHRAM.
• Digital dashboards and AI-driven career services align with SDG 8 (Decent Work) and Digital India.

The Social Reality

• Informalisation: Nearly 90% of India’s workforce remains in informal jobs without contracts or benefits (ILO, 2024).
• Forced Labour: Around 11 million face modern slavery conditions — especially women in seafood, textiles, and quarries.
• Exclusion by Design: Only 38% of households are digitally literate, excluding women, elderly, and low-literates.
• Gig Economy Issues: Algorithmic control and “flexibility” mask wage theft and lack of bargaining power.

The Paradox

• Digital optimism vs. weak enforcement: Labour codes remain unenforced; inspector shortages persist.
• Centralisation vs. inclusion: Digital tools replace field inspectors but fail to ensure grievance redressal.
• Tech-driven governance vs. data privacy gaps: Weak Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act enforcement risks surveillance of workers.
• “Employer ease” vs. worker justice: Ease-of-business rhetoric erodes Articles 14, 16, and 23 protections.

Bridging this paradox requires tripartite governance (state–employer–union), offline access for excluded groups, rights audits, and adequate funding for universal protection. Without tangible safeguards, India’s digital labour vision risks deepening inequality rather than ensuring dignity, rights, and justice for its working poor.

Source:https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/exploited-workers-a-labour-policys-empty-promises/article70267861.ece

2. “Data-driven governance is transforming disaster management from a reactive response to a proactive resilience model, yet challenges of inclusivity, capacity, and ethics persist.” analyse this statement in the context of India’s disaster risk reduction framework.

IN NEWS: When data became the first responder  – Andhra handled Cyclone Montha with maturity in disaster governance

India, among the world’s most disaster-prone nations, faces frequent floods, cyclones, earthquakes, and heatwaves. Over the past decade, data-driven governance — leveraging real-time monitoring, satellite mapping, and predictive analytics — has reshaped disaster management from relief-centric to risk reduction and resilience-oriented governance.

Transformation through Data-Driven Governance:

• Early Warning Systems: IMD’s Doppler radar networks and the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning Centre now provide precise forecasts, reducing casualties significantly.
• Geospatial Data: ISRO’s Bhuvan and RISAT satellites enable risk mapping, resource allocation, and post-disaster assessment.
• Digital Platforms: NDMA’s Common Alerting Protocol and NDM-India App integrate data from multiple agencies for faster response.
• AI and Big Data: Predictive analytics under the Climate Resilience Information System and Planning (CRISP-M) helps local planning and mitigation.

Persistent Challenges:

• Inclusivity Gaps: Marginalized and rural communities often lack digital access or literacy, limiting benefit from data tools — undermining “Leave No One Behind” goals of the Sendai Framework.
• Capacity Deficit: Local disaster management authorities lack trained personnel and data infrastructure.
• Ethical Concerns: Data privacy, surveillance risks, and algorithmic bias challenge public trust.
• Fragmented Data Systems: Poor interoperability among agencies delays coordinated action.

While data-driven systems have improved speed, accuracy, and accountability in India’s disaster management, real resilience demands inclusive digital capacity-building, ethical data frameworks, and community-based decision-making. Integrating technology with human-centric governance and local participation will ensure a truly proactive and equitable disaster risk reduction model in line with the Sendai Framework (2015–2030).

Source:https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/when-data-became-the-first-responder/article70266886.ece