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Excellent

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Are the actual ASUSE reports public? A Business Standard report from last November says the ASUSE reports have not been made public for the last 4 years.

https://www.business-standard.com/india-news/annual-survey-on-informal-sector-to-begin-despite-delays-in-prior-reports-123110900582_1.html

India is set to begin work on the 2023-24 Annual Survey on Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE) despite results from surveys conducted over the last four years not being released, according to a report by The Economic Times (ET).

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Press Information Bureau just released headline numbers, and Pronab Sen commented on them.

I will study the detailed report this week, but felt it was important enough to push into this week's post.

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Tragic! On both fronts.

One would have thought that the mature forests of Kumaon, and all across the Himalayas, would have been thoroughly fire-lined by now, or are fire breaks not standard forestry practice anymore?

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Forest practices have become very lax, Dev, and walking in Binsar, everything seems quite random.

I didn't want to be cynical in the writing, but a friend who lived there for 40 years spoke to folks; they believe this was arson. Apparently, villagers are given 1,000 rupees a day to help foresters fight fires. This sounds like a well-intended policy, but given the lack of income in remote villages, could also be a perverse incentive.

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This is quite insightful. The extent of distress on account of un/under-employment and consequent lack of income is understood, but the consequences are mond boggling.

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Above all, the impact on the psyche. Young people in the villages are very dispirited. Having work, something meaningful to do is very important to self-esteem.

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Well said. This also questions assumptions that mental health issues are largely urban. They are widespread among youth and need acknowledgement & empathy, then redressal.

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Well said. This also questions assumptions that mental health issues are largely urban. They are widespread among youth and need acknowledgement & empathy, then redressal.

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