Do Locals Hold 90% of The Jobs in Mumbai?

The TOI posted a story today that quotes a Maharashtra Govt "report" on the percentage of locals employed in Mumbai's SMEs. It that shows that more than 90% of the jobs in Mumbai SMEs are held by locals. This is another example of widespread mis-reporting that our media resorts to these days.

The data was quoted in the context of the MNS protest. Naturally, a headline figure of 90% implies that this story is contrary to what the MNS is fighting for. However, this is not true

 a. The 90% refers to an overall universe of 1.1 million workers. However, the working population of Mumbai is more than 6 million (census 2001). Therefore the 90% refers to only one sixth of labour population. Nobody knows which one sixth they are referring to

b. It does not share with us data on the definition of locals. Does locals mean those who have spent more than 15 years in Mumbai (Mah Govt definition)? or does it mean 'Marathi Manoos' that the MNS are fighting for? I can conclude that the data refers to people who spent > 15 years in Mumbai

c. The story does not actually state the source of this data - "officials in the state industries department" is the same as "sources in the ATS". Why can't they provide us with the links or the precise source- Eg: Mr Khanolkar from the Department of Industries?

In other words, the 90% figure means nothing. It is not comprehensive and is not related to the issue that the MNS has raised. Pointless story pretending to dispute the larger issue.

I noticed a second story in the TOI that I was intriguing to the say the least. The TOI reports

'The anti-terrorism squad investigating the recent Malegaon bomb blasts has recorded the statement of arrested Lt-Col Shrikant Purohit's colleague Capt Nitin Joshi who reportedly said that Purohit had told him about pilfering RDX'

The Economic Times reports

'Maharashtra Anti-Terror Squad’s (ATS) investigation into Lt Col Shrikant Prasad Purohit’s involvement in terror activities got a boost on Tuesday when an instructor (Captain Nitin Joshi) at Nashik’s Bhonsala Military Training School recorded a statement with the police that the the Malegoan blast suspect had confided in him about possessing RDX'

The TOI suggests that Captain Nitin Joshi worked with Lt Col Purohit in the Army while the ET suggests that Captain Joshi worked with the Bhonsala Military Training school. Weird that the same newspaper reports things differently.

Here is an interesting article that reports how the NASA GISS reported that October was the hottest month ever and then rescinded the same after bloggers pointed out to data collection errors in Russia.

Be careful of what you read these days. Validation is critical as everybody is driven by their own agenda