Seen a lot of people aver the following, "but where are the jobs?" in response to someone asserting the need to incentivize the movement of our people from agriculture to industry.
Well, here's one major part of the big answer: Labour reforms.

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I think people haven't fully realised the potential of inducing flexibility in labour laws and reducing the regulatory cholesterol that has tarred our system for decades.

Rajasthan State government introduced the labour reforms in 2014 wrt +
+ raising the threshold levels for applicability of different acts, dispute resolution etc. (Refer to images for a more detailed understanding of the reforms)
Based on this, the Economic survey of 2019 (Chapter 3) notes the following improvements in Rajasthan's MSME network:

1. India has a major problem of dwarf firms i.e. firms that remain small despite being old and are not able to employ more than 10-20 workers.
Well, after the reforms, Rajasthan has witnessed a significant rise in number of firms with more than 100 employees as compared to the rest of India. (refer graph)

2. The number of factories establishing with more than 100 workers were growing on an average of 3.65%, +
+ and two years post labour reforms, the growth accelerated to 9.33%. On the contrary, the growth for the rest of India clocked a 4% average growth rate only.

3. The most important point: the average number of workers per factory in Rajasthan increased at the+
rate of 4.17% in 2016-17 as opposed to a decline i.e. -8.9% in 2011-12.

Here are some interesting figures from the Economic survey highlighting the significant improvement in the situation of Rajasthan as compared to the rest of India. (They really need to work on aesthetics)
Now, very similar reforms have been enlisted in our labour codes that have the ability to create massive employment and enable our firms to hire radically and create a vibrant labour market. The farm reforms along with the labour reforms present +
+ India with a focal point to set our terms of trade between agriculture and industry right, and in a very gradual manner.

Excessive and absurd labour regulations have been one of the biggest reasons for our inability to grow a thriving manufacturing sector with a large labour+
+ market. For people who are interested in reading in-depth about the labour reforms, their significance and the history of labour laws in various states can refer to this paper that I co-authored.

https://t.co/J8oA2goRLr
Source of data and charts: The Economic Survey of India 2018-19, Chapter- 3, Nourishing dwarfs to become giants: Reorienting policies for MSME growth.

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Two things can be true at once:
1. There is an issue with hostility some academics have faced on some issues
2. Another academic who himself uses threats of legal action to bully colleagues into silence is not a good faith champion of the free speech cause


I have kept quiet about Matthew's recent outpourings on here but as my estwhile co-author has now seen fit to portray me as an enabler of oppression I think I have a right to reply. So I will.

I consider Matthew to be a colleague and a friend, and we had a longstanding agreement not to engage in disputes on twitter. I disagree with much in the article @UOzkirimli wrote on his research in @openDemocracy but I strongly support his right to express such critical views

I therefore find it outrageous that Matthew saw fit to bully @openDemocracy with legal threats, seeking it seems to stifle criticism of his own work. Such behaviour is simply wrong, and completely inconsistent with an academic commitment to free speech.

I am not embroiling myself in the various other cases Matt lists because, unlike him, I think attention to the detail matters and I don't have time to research each of these cases in detail.

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1/ Here’s a list of conversational frameworks I’ve picked up that have been helpful.

Please add your own.

2/ The Magic Question: "What would need to be true for you


3/ On evaluating where someone’s head is at regarding a topic they are being wishy-washy about or delaying.

“Gun to the head—what would you decide now?”

“Fast forward 6 months after your sabbatical--how would you decide: what criteria is most important to you?”

4/ Other Q’s re: decisions:

“Putting aside a list of pros/cons, what’s the *one* reason you’re doing this?” “Why is that the most important reason?”

“What’s end-game here?”

“What does success look like in a world where you pick that path?”

5/ When listening, after empathizing, and wanting to help them make their own decisions without imposing your world view:

“What would the best version of yourself do”?