The people behind the data

Author's fieldwork

The gig economy trap

Rajesh, 28, has an engineering degree from a reputed college. Today he delivers food for 12 hours a day and earns ₹15,000 a month.

“They call us 'partners' but treat us like servants. No fuel reimbursement when petrol hits ₹120. Algorithm decides everything—one bad rating and income drops 40%.”

The numbers. NITI Aayog estimated 6.8 million gig and platform workers in 2019-20, up from 2.5 million in 2011-12, and projects 23.5 million by 2029-30.

What it means. Graduate unemployment was 13.0% in 2023-24, about four times the overall rate (PLFS). Educated young people who cannot find regular jobs take work like Rajesh's.

Author's fieldwork

The farmer's paradox

In Vidarbha, the cotton farmer Shankar received ₹6,000 under PM-KISAN. His input costs rose by ₹45,000. He now works as a construction labourer in Mumbai.

“₹6,000 is a cruel joke. Fertilizer bag costs ₹1,400. They give us drops while drowning us in debt. My son will never farm—I'll sell the land first.”

The numbers. NABARD's rural surveys put average monthly household income at ₹8,059 in 2016-17 and ₹12,698 in 2021-22, a rise of about 27% after rural inflation. The Shanta Kumar committee (2015) found that only 6% of farmers sell at the minimum support price.

What it means. Incomes rose, and so did borrowing: the share of rural households in debt went from 47.4% to 52% over the same five years (NABARD). PM-KISAN's ₹6,000 a year is about 4% of the average rural household's yearly income of about ₹1.5 lakh.

Author's fieldwork

The missing women workers

Priya, an MBA from an IIM, left a job that paid ₹18 lakh a year. "Childcare costs ₹25,000 a month. After taxes and expenses, I was paying to work."

“Society judges working mothers, offices demand 14-hour days, zero support systems. It's not a choice—it's survival. My education is wasted, but my child needs me.”

The numbers. On MoSPI's usual-status series the labour force participation rate of women aged 15 and over rose from 23.3% in 2017-18 to 41.7% in 2023-24, and was 40.0% in 2025. PLFS counts a woman who helps without pay in a household enterprise as a worker.

What it means. Nearly 90% of India's workers are informally employed (ILO and IHD, India Employment Report 2024). The Maternity Benefit Act covers establishments, so most women in informal work have no statutory maternity benefit.

Public record

The statistical darkness

P.C. Mohanan, acting chair of the National Statistical Commission, resigned on 28 January 2019 with the fellow member J.V. Meenakshi. The government had held back the 2017-18 Periodic Labour Force Survey, which the Commission had approved in December 2018. When it came out in May 2019 it put unemployment at 6.1% for all ages, reported as the highest since 1972-73.

The numbers. The last census was taken in 2011, and the next is scheduled for 2027. The 2017-18 consumption survey was never released. On 15 November 2019 Business Standard reported that its draft showed monthly spending per person 3.7% lower than in 2011-12, and 8.8% lower in villages; the same day MoSPI said it would not release the survey, citing data quality. The next consumption survey, for 2022-23, was published in February 2024.

What it means. For eleven years India had no published consumption survey, the survey poverty is measured from. Policy in those years was made without it.