Best of BS Opinion: Not labour's love alone, BJP's new star in Bihar & more

Four labour legislations aim to attract investment and make it easier for companies to do business in India. Our opinion pieces talk about their impact, Bihar elections, and central banking.

The real test of the labour market reforms will be growth in employment, in particular an increase in employment in the organised sector, where productivity tends to be better and wages therefore higher, notes T N Ninan. The column further underlines, if the reforms don’t work, it will be because labour law changes are a necessary but not sufficient condition for achieving the intended objectives. Read here
 

Other opinion pieces talk about Bihar elections, influence of social media, and central banking. 
 

Elections came and went. Ironically, despite the party’s best efforts, where Sushil Modi exerted himself, the party notched up victories. Where he didn’t, it slumped, writes Aditi Phadnis
 

The momentary dopamine high becomes hardwired into a pattern where users begin to relate to social media platforms as digital pacifiers every time they run into fear, discomfort, pain or uncertainty”, writes Chintan Girish Modi
 

In trying to increase by a fairly random amount an index of prices that they largely can’t control, central banks couldn’t have done much more harm, notes Richard Cookson
 

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“Removal of rigidity in labour laws, reduction of compliance requirements and time-bound delivery of services would act as a stimulus for setting up larger industries which, along with the steps taken for formalisation, would act as a catalyst for employment generation.”

Labour and Employment Minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar