Frustrated after years of administrative apathy, tribal residents of Koralwadi in Apta Group Gram Panchayat, Panvel taluka, have announced an indefinite hunger strike outside the Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) office in Panvel, beginning Wednesday, October 29. The protest aims to demand accountability for substandard road construction and the incomplete Jal Jeevan Mission project.

“Despite being just 15 kilometres from Navi Mumbai, we live as if we are forgotten by the system. We still don’t have a proper road or clean drinking water,” said Gurudas Waghe, a resident of Koralwadi.

Supported by Gram Sanvardhan Samajik Sanstha and guided by social activist Santosh Thakur, villagers have long campaigned for basic infrastructure through rallies, petitions, and previous hunger strikes — all in vain.

After sustained protests, the government sanctioned two major projects — a drinking water supply scheme under Jal Jeevan Mission three years ago and a road connecting NH-17 (Taregav) to Koralwadi two years ago. However, locals allege both projects remain incomplete.

“The contractor completed the roadwork in April, and by May before the rains it was washed away. That’s how poor the construction was,” said one villager, accusing the Public Works Department (PWD) of gross negligence and misuse of funds.

Thakur demanded a vigilance inquiry into the project, alleging that officials are protecting contractors instead of taking corrective action.

Villagers also accused authorities of deliberately stalling the Jal Jeevan Mission scheme. “For three years, they’ve been giving false excuses. We are still waiting for a drop of that promised water,” said another resident.

Under the Katkari Upliftment Programme, several tribal families applied for ration cards and official documents two years ago. However, most still haven’t received them due to alleged negligence by the supply department. “We’ve visited government offices multiple times, but officials keep pushing us away,” villagers complained.

Announcing the protest, Santosh Thakur said, “This time, we will not back down. Until action is taken against negligent engineers and pending works are completed, our hunger strike will continue indefinitely.”

New Delhi, Oct 28: The services-led growth in India’s economy is becoming more regionally balanced as states with lower initial shares in services are catching up with more advanced ones, according to a NITI Aayog report released on Tuesday.

“There is clear evidence that structurally lagging States are beginning to catch up with advanced ones. This emerging pattern of convergence suggests that India’s services-led transformation is gradually becoming more broad-based and spatially inclusive,” the report states.

The services sector has become the cornerstone of India’s economic growth, contributing nearly 55 per cent of national GVA (Gross Value Added) in 2024-25.

To guide policy, the report introduces a quadrant-based framework that classifies 15 major service sub-sectors into four categories-Engines of Growth, Emerging Stars, Mature Giants, and Struggling Segments-to support differentiated strategies across States.

The report recommends prioritising digital infrastructure, logistics, innovation, finance, and skilling to accelerate diversification and competitiveness at the sectoral level.

It also recommends that at the state level there is a need for developing tailored service strategies based on local strengths, improving institutional capacity, integrating services with industrial ecosystems, and scaling up urban and regional service clusters.

Together, these findings offer a forward-looking policy road map for positioning the services sector as a key growth engine across India, reinforcing its central role in the Viksit Bharat @2047 vision.

A companion report titled India’s Services Sector: Insights from Employment Trends and State-Level Dynamics, focusses on employment within the services sector, drawing on data from the NSS (2011-12) and PLFS (2017-18 to 2023-24).

It offers a long-run and multi-dimensional view of India’s services workforce across sub-sectors, gender, regions, education, and occupations. The report goes beyond aggregate trends to reveal the sector’s dual character: modern, high-productivity segments that are globally competitive yet limited in employment intensity, and traditional segments that absorb large numbers of workers but remain predominantly informal and low-paying.

By linking historical and contemporary data, it situates these patterns within a broader framework of structural transformation, offering an integrated understanding of the opportunities and divides that shape India’s services-led employment transition.

Findings show that while services remain the mainstay of India’s employment growth and post-pandemic recovery, challenges persist. Employment generation is uneven across sub-sectors, informality remains widespread, and job quality continues to lag behind output growth. Gender gaps, rural-urban divides, and regional disparities underline the need for an employment strategy that integrates formalisation, inclusion, and productivity enhancement at its core.

To bridge these gaps, the report outlines a four-part policy road map focussing on formalisation and social protection for gig, self-employed, and MSME workers; targeted skilling and digital access to expand opportunities for women and rural youth; investment in emerging and green economy skills; and balanced regional development through service hubs in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities.

By positioning the services sector as a purposeful driver of productive, high-quality, and inclusive jobs, the report underscores its centrality to India’s employment transition and its pivotal role in realising the vision of ‘Viksit Bharat @2047’.

The reports emphasise the need to deepen digital infrastructure, expand skilled human capital, foster innovation ecosystems, and integrate services across value chains, positioning India as a trusted global leader in digital, professional, and knowledge-based services.

Washington, Oct 28: Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers have joined hands to support the India-US relationship, months after the Trump administration announced a series of policies targeting Indian interests.

At least six bipartisan letters and resolutions have been drafted over the past 10 days defending the interests of the Indian American community, reaffirming support for the India–US partnership, and pressing the administration for accountability over its recent actions targeting New Delhi.

Last week, a group of House members expressed concern that an event at Rutgers University on Monday could “fuel further prejudice” against Hindus at a time when Hindu temples have been targets of violence.

The co-signers of the letter were Democrats Sanford Bishop from Georgia, Shri Thanedar from Illinois, and Suhas Subramanyam from Virginia, and Republican Rich McCormick, also from Georgia.

Two days earlier, another bipartisan group of six House Representatives wrote to US President Donald Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, expressing concerns over the H-1B proclamation.

“We are concerned that the recent proclamation related to H-1B visa petitions will create significant challenges for US employers and overall weaken our competitiveness,” the letter stated.

The group again included Democrat Suhas Subramanyam along with Republican Congressmen Jay Obernolte and Don Bacon, among others.

On October 17, four US lawmakers wrote to President Donald Trump, urging him to attend the Quad Leaders’ Summit in India and other meetings in Asia.

The same day, a bipartisan resolution was introduced in the House of Representatives to recognise the “contributions made to the United States by the Indian American diaspora” and condemn recent acts of racism against Indian Americans.

The resolution also termed the India-US relationship as “one of the most important democratic partnerships in the world”.

It was a sharp departure from just days earlier, when 19 House members, all Democrats with no Republican support, wrote to President Donald Trump on October 8, urging him to “reset and repair” the India-US “critical partnership”.

Leaders from both Democratic and Republican parties have faced criticism for mostly remaining silent as senior officials of the Trump administration, like Trade Advisor Peter Navarro and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, repeatedly targeted India over its purchase of Russian oil and trade imbalance.

In August, the Trump administration imposed 50 per cent tariffs on New Delhi, which included a 25 per cent levy for importing Russian oil.

Then, in September, President Donald Trump signed a proclamation on H-1B visas, imposing a $100,000 application fee to restrict the programme. Over 70 per cent of the approved H-1B applications in 2024 went to Indian nationals.

While a handful of Democrats opposed the administration’s stance publicly, Republican lawmakers, until recently, decided to keep quiet.

In early October, Democratic Representative Ami Bera, a leading advocate of the US-India relationship, told Media that some Republican lawmakers have remained silent out of fear of the president.

“I think they’re certainly afraid to take on President Trump directly,” he said.

In recent weeks, ties have stabilised, and negotiators have resumed talks to finalise the first phase of a trade agreement.

Last week, President Donald Trump held a special Diwali event at the White House where he termed Prime Minister Narendra Modi “a great person” and said he loves “the people of India.”

Bera added that more members should come out to support the relationship.

“Instead of making this about President Trump, let’s make it about the US-India relationship. Let’s make it about what we think as members of Congress – Democrats and Republicans. I don’t want the India-US relationship to be a Democratic thing or a Republican thing. It should be an American thing,” he told Media.