About the Conference

The 63rd Annual Conference of The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE) was held in Rajiv Gandhi University, Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh during 1-3 March 2023. The Conference was organised by the Centre for Development Studies and Department of Economics of Rajiv Gandhi University. PROFESSOR JEEMOL UNNI, Professor of Economics at Amrut Mody School of Management, Ahmedabad University, Ahmedabad was the Conference President. DR. VANDANA UPADHYAY, Professor & Head, Department of Economics, Rajiv Gandhi University was the Local Organising Secretary of the Conference.

• The Challenge of Youth Employment
• Changing Rural Labour Markets and Rural Diversification
• Long Term Impact of COVID19 Pandemic on the Economy and the Labour Market

The conference this year received 300 + papers across the three themes

Keynote papers on these three themes were presented by three distinguished speakers

• Sher Verick presented on the challenges of youth employment and stressed upon the importance of countries developing integrated youth employment strategy that address job creations, quality of jobs, and inclusion.
• Vinoj Abraham presented on the slow emergence of rural non-farm sector and employment in India, focusing on the trends and patterns in employment in the rural economy, and he discussed the shifts and diversification within rural employment.
• Ashwani Deshpande discussed the impact of COVID-19 on the Indian labor market and stressed that the employment challenge for India is bigger than just achieving pre pandemic levels, and there is an urgent need to boost job creation and rectify pre-pandemic deep rooted inequalities.

• Abhijit Sen Memorial Lecture: presented by Ramesh Chand, Member on Changes in Female Labour-force and Employment:Evidence from PLFS Data
• T.S. Papola Memorial Lecture: presented by Rajat Kathuria on Technology and Future of Work
• V.V. Giri Memorial Lecture: presented by Martha (Marty) Chen on The Informal Economy in Comparative Perspective: Theory, Reality and Policy
• Y.K. Alagh Memorial Lecture: presented by Indira Hirway on Work and Workers in India: Moving towards Inclusive and Sustainable Development

• Six panel discussion and two round tables were held which covered a broad range of topics such as the impact of COVID 19 on the labor market in the global south, migration, and the various aspects related to gender focused on Livelihoods and Employment across themes such as Women Entrepreneurship in MSME’s, Women’s movement, and Care work.

• A Plenary panel focusing on Climate change, Livelihood, and Employment stressed the consequences of our social and economic systems, and the options available to reduce the adverse impacts and increase capacity to respond

• Every year a special panel is dedicated to the region in which the conference is organized, this year the panel was on “Creating Decent Livelihoods and Employment Opportunities in the Hill Economies of North-East India”. Several experts exclusive to the region discussed this issue. It is hoped that these celebrations connect the various tracks of dialogue and serve as policy inputs for the governments of the region.