Stimulate employment

Over 40 million people in low- and middle-income countries earn part or their entire income from the gig economy, and this figure is rising. Digital platforms stimulate employment and income generation through the increased availability and access to digitally mediated jobs. Legislative and judicial protection available for workers in India must apply to them as well.

The gig economy is here to stay and offers many ways for women to start and improve their careers. However, hurdles remain that discourage women from participating in gig work in greater numbers. Aggregators and platforms must work harder to improve the conditions of work for women. The future will only see more gig work, and the inclusion of women is critical for balanced growth.

P Sundara Pandian

Virudhunagar, TN

Funds crunch

Apropos ‘PE firms sitting on dry powder’ (January 9), it is a paradox that while at a macro level many sectors are in desperate need for capital and private investment, PE firms are sitting on dry powder for lack of investment avenues. One of the reasons obviously is that PE firms look for those avenues where returns are very high but gestation period is as short as possible.

In the recent past, some of the funds have made good returns by exiting their investments and this has added to the accumulation of dry powder. A salient feature of investments by PE funds in the financial services sector with long gestation period like insurance, is that, immediately after investing, there is a clamour to vigorously push for top-line growth, just to boost valuations, resulting in a short-term boom. This, however, does not afford long-term viability for businesses. If the PE fund exits the investment due to inflated short-term valuations, the investee company/firms suffers a double whammy, and will be back at square one or even notches below.

Angara Venkata Girija Kumar

Chennai

Trump on overdrive

This refers to ‘Trump is raring to go’ (January 9). Trump is looking to expand US’ influence, both geographically and economically. In the North, he is eyeing vast areas in Canada and Greenland. To the South, he has laid claims to Panama Canal. To the East, his loyalist Elon Musk has tweeted Trump’s displeasure over the governance of Britannia and Deutsche Land. In his crusade against China and Russia, besides impervious sanctions, he plans to levy usurious duties on incoming trade.

R Narayanan

Navi Mumbai

Expectation of farmers

This refers to ‘Stage set for BL Agri & Commodity summit tomorrow’ (January 9). The major expectations of farmers are fair price for their produce (may not be MSP) apart from affordable logistic support, and accessible storage facilities.

Rajiv Magal

Halekere Village, Karnataka