Decoding India’s Energy Future + Why Minimum Wage Means Maximum Control
Policy Post #193
Dear Reader,
This week’s Policy Charcha has something for everyone: why India’s minimum wage system isn’t really about wages, how your city could soon have a governance makeover, and what erratic monsoons are warning us about the future.
And for students: Google just dropped a game‑changer—a year of Gemini AI Pro, free. Perfect for research, coding, and all the late‑night deadlines you’d rather not talk about.
Also don’t miss this eye-opening Open Dialogue episode with economist Neelkanth Mishra about how India’s energy strategy could make or break its growth!
As always, thank you for reading and championing better policy.
With that, we bring to you: Policy Post #193!
Policy Charcha 💬
The best of Podcasts, Videos, Essays, Fellowships and other Career resources from the world of Policy and Governance from the week gone by!
💡 Essay Highlight:
Minimum Wage, Maximum Control – R Shinde
Minimum isn’t just about protecting the workers. This essay reveals how India’s wage laws became a tool for political control rather than economic justice. Drawing on history and state practice, it shows why enforcement gaps, overlapping laws, and political incentives make the system less about fairness and more about power. A sobering look at how something designed to empower workers can, in practice, do the opposite.
📚 Article Highlight:
Redefining Cities: India’s Municipal Act in the Reformer’s Crosshairs
Forget old debates on infrastructure. This article reveals how the central government is working to overhaul city governance—from empowering mayors to redefining peri‑urban areas and reimagining parastatals. Five working groups are now drafting reforms to help India’s 4,900 statutory towns shift smoothly into the 21st century. A clear-eyed roadmap for anyone tracking how urban power and planning intersects with democratic governance.
💡 Opportunity Highlight:
Google is giving school and college students in India one full year of Gemini Advanced, completely FREE. That’s ₹23,400 worth of AI tools, research power, and productivity hacks at zero cost. Perfect for projects, coding, or just staying ahead of the curve. Don’t miss this as tech like this doesn’t come free every day!
Claim before 15th September 2025!
📊 Database Highlight:
Explore our revamped Policy Schools Database! Now covering policy schools and policy/development programs in 20+ countries worldwide. Check it out!
🔎 Databases and Guides:
Discover your ultimate career resource sheets for everything related to public policy! Our comprehensive mega-lists include150+ hiring organisations, 200+ scholarships, and 150+ courses. Dive in and unlock your next big opportunity!
▶️Video Highlight:
The Strategy Behind India’s Energy Play (and Why It Matters to You)
👉🏽 In a powerful 1-hour+ episode of Open Dialogue, energy expert Sameer Shetty teams up with economist Neelkanth Mishra to decode pertinent things like how sudden oil price swings impact inflation and why energy transition matters for manufacturing competitiveness. A must-watch for anyone who wants to know what India needs to do to secure both its climate and economic future.
Climate + Health Corner
In Partnership With Swasti, The Health Catalyst
👉🏽 Monsoon Mayhem: Why India’s Rains Are Going Rogue?
Nearly 50% of India’s tehsils now see over 10% spikes in rainfall intensity, while gaps between showers stretch longer than ever. The 2025 season’s erratic downpours aren’t just weather quirks, they’re warning signs for farming, cities, and water security. Can India’s systems keep up with a climate that refuses to play by the rules?
👥 Community Updates:
All our communities are free to join, open to everyone and are continuously growing and evolving to maximise the opportunities and awareness about policy and careers in this broader space that we can create in cities across India’s 20 most vibrant cities.
Join our absolutely free pan-India communities on WhatsApp and be a part of the next in-person meet-up!
Careers Corner 💼
A curated list of some of the best jobs and internship opportunities this week from the world of public policy, the development sector, impact consulting and communications at large.
📩 Best bit - if you know of a job/internship opening that’s not listed here, kindly just add that as a comment on the sheet: giving 20,000+ people immediate access to it!
