Best of BS Opinion: As sectors grow, fault lines are beginning to appear

Here are the best of Business Standard's opinion pieces for today

The year-end strike by gig and platform workers has brought renewed attention to the fragile foundations of India’s quick commerce and food delivery economy. As our first editorial notes, workers are demanding basic safeguards on wages, hours and safety, especially as unsafe delivery timelines push risk onto roads. With the gig workforce expected to grow sharply, the new labour codes notified in November 2025 mark a turning point, though enforcement and business model adjustment remain unresolved. 

Our second editorial examines the alleged assault by an off-duty Air India Express pilot as a signal of broader stress across India’s aviation system. Passenger complaints have risen steadily, particularly during disruption-heavy seasons, with staff behaviour issues often surfacing under operational pressure. As airlines adjust to tighter duty time rules, service quality and labour conditions must be treated as core infrastructure as the sector scales. 

Writing on rural employment, Amarendu Nandy notes that replacing MGNREGS with the Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission represents a shift from a rights-based safety net to a more investment-oriented programme. While the focus on durable assets may improve long-term outcomes, state-wise funding limits and seasonal pauses weaken the scheme’s ability to respond quickly to distress, diluting its role as an automatic stabiliser. 

Meanwhile, analysing banking complaints data, RBI Deputy Governor Swaminathan J argues that customer centricity has been reduced to a compliance exercise rather than treated as the sector’s organising principle. Despite faster disposal drives by the RBI, weak internal grievance systems and under-empowered frontline staff push customers to escalate disputes. Trust, he writes, is built through early, empathetic resolution, not post-facto closure. 

Finally, in her review, Neha Bhatt examines Victoria Bateman’s Economica, which challenges male-dominated economic histories by restoring women to the centre of wealth creation. Drawing on global case studies across centuries, the book shows how women’s economic roles expanded and contracted with structural change, and how their systematic erasure weakened collective power. It is both corrective history and a reminder of how economic narratives shape present inequalities. 

Stay tuned!