Lower the bar, increase the earnings

Bhuvana Anand, Shubho Roy, and Prisha Saxena | 04 October 2023 | Prosperiti Substack

Analyses the working hour regulation the Factories Act, 1948. Relaxed working hour limits can increase a worker’s yearly earnings by more than 60%.

(No) Room to Grow

Eknoor Kaur, Sirjan Kaur, and Shubho Roy | 20 September 2023 | Prosperiti Substack

Analyses the space requirements under Indian labour regulations. Research shows that easing space requirements within a factory can create ~35% more jobs in India.

Parking Reserved

Bhuvana Anand, Sargun Kaur, and Anandhakrishnan S | 06 September 2023 | Prosperiti Substack

Analyses parking requirements for industrial buildings across 10 Indian states. Research shows that parking minimums can lead to a loss of up to 45% of productive factory land.

Double or Nothing

Suyog Dandekar and Shubho Roy | 23 August 2023 | Prosperiti Substack

One reason for India’s failure to industrialise quickly may be India’s labour regulations, like the law governing overtime wages, which set out to protect industrial workers but actually harm them and deters the growth of the manufacturing sector.

When Exemptions Become The Rule

Abhishree Choudhary and Shubho Roy | 09 August 2023 | Prosperiti Substack

Indian cities die at night. This lack of a nightlife is usually a result of legislation called the Shops and Establishments Act that imposes multiple restrictions on the working of businesses.

Hard, but Brittle

Bhuvana Anand, Shubho Roy, and Abhishek Singh | 26 July 2023 | Prosperiti Substack

India’s inflexible forest conservation law has increased the cost of public utilities, hindered local democratic decision-making, and may even be harming our environmental aspirations.

Government Order Raj in K-12 Education

Abhishree Choudhary, Bhavna Mundhra, and Prisha Saxena | 26 July 2023 | Prosperiti Substack

Every day, private schools in India navigate discretion, vilification, and excessive regulation; schools are constantly walking the thin line between compliance and running afoul of the education administration.

Seeing forests everywhere: A cure is finally within sight

Bhuvana Anand and Abhishek Singh | 21 July 2023 | LiveMint

Lawmakers are set to discuss the Forest Conservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023, in the monsoon session of Parliament. This is a rare opportunity for India to correct a 27-year-old policy logjam that is holding up growth and employment opportunities.

Stunted Growth

Anandhakrishnan S, Bhuvana Anand, and Shubho Roy | 28 June 2023 | Prosperiti Substack

Renting an office space in India is costlier than many of the other major cities in East Asia. One factor that affects the affordability of office spaces is the available floor area.

Dangerous Paternalism

Bhuvana Anand, Eknoor Kaur, and Shubho Roy | 14 June 2023 | Prosperiti Substack

Women in Uttar Pradesh cannot manufacture pottery, and women in Tamil Nadu cannot dye carpets. These restrictions seem to be motivated by a paternalistic approach of protecting women’s health and safety from processes that are considered dangerous by the State.

At the Margin

Bhavna Mundhra and Shubho Roy | 31 May 2023 | Prosperiti Substack

Setbacks across states seem to be set without an appropriate accounting of costs and benefits, and often display false scientism. India needs to be the next world-class manufacturing hub. For this, factories need to scale and expand horizontally.

Losing Ground

Sargun Kaur and Shubho Roy | 17 May 2023 | Prosperiti Substack

States can unlock 25-60% of factory land for productive use by easing ground coverage limits. Industries may lose more than half of their plot area to ground coverage limits. This area can be unlocked for productive economic activity by regulatory change.

How to ensure more women in the workforce

Bhuvana Anand | 29 April 2022 | Hindustan Times

Non-discrimination in the law is a necessary first step to help female job-seekers enter the market without any roadblocks. But employers also need to see the paucity of women as a problem and be willing to implement solutions.

How Indian laws patronise working women, limit job opportunities

Prisha Saxena and Sirjan Kaur | 21 April 2022 | BehanBox

Leela had been a binding assistant at the Kerala Books and Publications Society, a state- owned textbook publishing house, for 19 years when she was overlooked for the post of a supervisor. However, her employer argued that as a woman, she could not work beyond 7 pm, which she would need to in a supervisory role, under the Factories Act, 1948.

Women in the night shift: Terms and conditions apply

Sargun Kaur and Sirjan Kaur | 17 March 2022 | Business Standard

We all know women who log night shifts at the Cyber-hub, Gurgaon or IT hub, Bangalore or a bank office. But, it’s not as simple as clearing multiple rounds of interviews, and working hard every day at your job. No! In 13 Indian states, women can only be employed for night-shifts if their employers comply with a set of conditions mandated under their Shops and Establishments Acts.

No cabaret, crooning or cocktails

Sarvnipun Kaur and Abhishek Singh | 13 March 2022 | The Print

For The Print, authors Sarvnipun Kaur and Abhishek Singh write on the ways in which states in India regulate and restrict women’s employment using findings from our State of Discrimination Index.

The curious case of Indian working women

Bhuvana Anand, Baishali Bomjan, and Sarvnipun Kaur | 08 March 2022 | LiveMint

An exclusive report in Livemint on the findings of Trayas’ State of Discrimination Report which presents a comparison of 23 Indian states on the extent of sex-based legal discrimination using 48 Acts, 169 Rules and 20 Notifications/Orders

State of Discrimination Report

Bhuvana Anand and Sarvnipun Kaur | 08 March 2022

This report is a sub-national comparison of legal barriers to women’s right to choose work in India. Using an analytical framework, the report measures the extent to which Indian states discriminate against women. 23 states are assessed on the preponderance of 4 types of restrictions on female job-seekers: (1) working at night; (2) working in jobs deemed hazardous; (3) working in jobs deemed arduous; and (4) working in jobs deemed morally inappropriate.

What can we expect from the labour codes?

Bhuvana Anand and Sarvnipun Kaur | 19 November 2022 | TeamLease

State governments have approximately 5 months to frame pro worker, pro-business rules. The authors share their thoughts on what can be expected from the labour codes