News from States
Kashmir's Craft Industry Struggles As Global Conflicts Dry Up Work Orders For Artisans
Srinagar: Kashmir's crafts industry is experiencing a sharp decline in exports as global conflicts have reduced work orders for artisans, resulting in an 80% drop in trade. The ongoing wars, including those in Ukraine and Gaza, have affected thousands of artisans who are struggling to survive amid the crisis.
Agniveers will get 20 pc reservation in state police recruitment: Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini
Chairing a review meeting in Panchkula on Sunday, Saini said Haryana is the first state in the country which has secured the future of Agniveers by creating a provision for jobs after their service period in the armed forces. The Haryana Cabinet has already provided security cover to the Agniveers by implementing the Haryana Agniveer Policy-2024.
UP power department worker sacked for waving Palestine flag during Eid: Report
Saqib Khan waved the Palestine flag after Eid namaaz on March 31; viral photos on social media led to his termination from the Kailashpur powerhouse. PTI quoted electricity department executive engineer Sanjeev Kumar as saying that the act was seen as “anti-national” and the department acted immediately. “Saqib Khan, a contract worker in the Kailashpur powerhouse, waved a flag of Palestine after offering 'namaaz' on Eid and posted a picture of it on social media,” Kumar said.
Jobs of 12K pourakarmikas to be regularised on May 1: CM Siddaramaiah
The salaries of pourakarmikas (sanitation workers) were revised from Rs 7,000 to Rs 17,000 earlier by the Congress government, he added. He also said that pourakarmikas would be given cashless health cards and assured that verification of pending documents would be completed soon. He said that the jobs of garbage truck drivers would also be regularised along with those of pourakarmikas. So far, pourakarmikas and truck drivers were working on contract basis.
In election bound Bihar cabinet approves hirings for over 27000 govt jobs
In Bihar, the state cabinet today sanctioned more than 27,000 posts in various government departments, including Health. A notification for 20,000 government jobs will be issued in the Health Department. The decision was taken in the cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Additional Chief Secretary Dr S. Siddharth said the cabinet approved the creation of two new separate cadres in the Health Department, namely “Public Health Cadre” and “Hospital Management Cadre”. The cabinet also approved a separate new cadre for Bihar Education Administration in the Department of Education.
In the Courts
Even As We Near 80 Yrs Of Independence, Not Enough Public Jobs Generated For Eligible Candidates : Supreme Court
The aforesaid observation came by a bench of Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Manmohan while upholding the Patna High Court's decision which had struck down a State Government's Rule permitting hereditary public appointments on the post of chaukidars as unconstitutional. Proviso (a) to Rule 5(7) of Bihar Chaukidari Cadre (Amendment) Rules, 2014 allowed a retiring chowkidar to nominate dependent kin for appointment in his place. The Division Bench of the Patna High Court struck this down as violative of Articles 14 (equality) and 16 (equal opportunity in public employment) of the Constitution, despite no formal challenge to the proviso.
SC Questions Delhi Govt Over Withheld GRAP Payments To 5,907 Workers
The Supreme Court on Wednesday questioned the Delhi Government for withholding subsistence allowance to 5,907 eligible construction workers affected by restrictions under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), solely because their bank accounts are not linked with Aadhaar. A bench of Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan asked whether verified beneficiaries could be denied their dues on this ground alone. The Court ordered the Delhi Government to respond on the legality of this issue during the next hearing.
Migrant Realities
VIDEO: Beneath the panel
Adani Green's massive solar park in Tamil Nadu acquired 4000 acres of land using brokers, from local farmers. This has deprived local communities of fresh water sources and fuelled migration. Those left behind count losses after giving up their land for the project.
PODCAST: 'Underlying causes of migrant exodus remain unchanged'
Five years after a nationwide lockdown was imposed to control the spread of Covid-19, which led to one of the largest exodus by migrant workers in India, the fear of living in cities remains.
Digital India’s Unseen Divide
There has been a surge in internet adoption particularly in rural India post pandemic, but most migrant workers are yet to use their smartphones for upskilling or managing money. Will digital skills define who thrives?
Recruitment Anxiety
Bengal SSC scam: SC quashes appointment of 25,753 teachers and staff in schools
"Manipulation and fraud on a large scale, coupled with the intention to cover up have tainted the selection process beyond repair,” observed Chief Justice of India Sanjeev Khanna. “The legibility and credibility of the selection procedure are denuded. We find no reason to interfere in the HC, since the appointments are by fraud and cheating. Pronouncing the verdict, the CJI said the employees whose appointments have been annulled are not needed to return their salaries and other emoluments.
No, Mamata doesn't need to go to jail for Bengal teachers. Here's a simple solution
The West Bengal School Service Commission claims that all the appointments were cancelled despite it having stated before the high court that there were around 5,300 "suspect appointees", while the remaining 19,000 were "likely to be eligible".
..."We submitted before the court lists of candidates where anomalies in recruitment were found. These lists were based on two specific irregularities in recruitment, namely Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) sheet manipulation and rank jumps. The total number of such candidates for Groups C and D and teachers for Classes 9-10 and 11-12 was around 5,300," State SSC Chairman Siddhartha Majumdar was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
...Around the same time, West Bengal Education Minister Bratya Basu also suggested that most of the job recipients were indeed eligible, pointing to the SSC’s own admission that 92% of them were considered qualified.
Since 2016, more than eight years have passed. Was it really impossible to rectify the situation for the untainted teachers, now at the receiving end of the irregularities?...At this juncture, Mamata Banerjee doesn't need to go to jail to prove her solidarity with the "eligible" teachers. Her government just needs to stop the chest-thumping and appeal to the Supreme Court with a list of candidates selected on the basis of merit. Her emotional pitch cannot replace the administrative responsibility her government failed to uphold for years. What the 19,000 teachers and their families caught in this crossfire need is due process, and not drama.
Once teachers, now they stare at bleak future; darkness prevails after SC verdict
Despair, hopelessness and dismay were writ large on the faces of the teachers who lost their jobs following the Supreme Court judgement on Thursday. Metro spoke to some of them. “The court has said that only the tainted candidates will have to return their salary with interest. The others do not have to. That means the court treated the two sets differently. Why then did the same court scrap all the appointments?”
Canning schoolteacher attempts suicide after job loss, fortunately 'out of danger'
A schoolteacher who lost her job on Thursday attempted suicide in South 24-Parganas’ Canning, police sources said. A history teacher in a government-aided school, she wrote in a note that she was unemployed after the Supreme Court invalidated over 25,000 school jobs. People who had lent her money allegedly went to her home, abused her verbally and demanded their money back, the police said.
Clean it: Editorial on the mass sacking of teachers in Bengal government schools
There is no point in blaming the Supreme Court: the fault lies in the institutional and political complicity that led to manipulation as well as a cover-up. The principles of merit and impartiality were sacrificed at the altar of corruption under Ms Banerjee’s watch.
SC stays CBI probe into West Bengal govt officials’ role in teacher recruitment scam
In April 2024 another Supreme Court bench had stayed a Calcutta High Court order directing the CBI to probe into the role of West Bengal government officials in a teacher recruitment scam…Calcutta High Court had said the CBI would undertake further investigations with regard to the persons involved in the state government approving the creation of supernumerary posts to accommodate illegal appointments.
Media Workers
Why mental health is a leading concern for freelance journalists in India
Over the past decade, India’s media landscape has undergone a significant transformation: increasingly, freelancers are at the forefront of critical independent reporting while mainstream media aligns itself with state narratives. As they fill this gap — reporting on issues that affect their communities, violence, and financial insecurity, among other topics — freelancers are also navigating a growing mental health crisis, one fueled by physical attacks and online abuse, government censorship and legal harassment.
Media Bodies Welcome Court Orders that Uphold Journalists’ Rights
In February this year a labour court in Delhi ordered the newspaper Navbharat to pay gratuity to senior journalist Anil Dubey. He worked as a Special Correspondent in the daily’s Delhi Bureau for 17 years, but was suddenly fired in 2022, without even a termination letter. He was paid his salary but denied gratuity. Dubey’s case highlights the frequent denial of full dues by media managements. The Assistant Labour Commissioner (Central), Delhi ordered Navbharat to pay Rs 98,076 gratuity along with 10% annual interest to Dubey.
Employment News
India's Unemployment Rate Dips Marginally To 4.9% In 2024: Centre
Suggesting slight improvements in employment opportunities, the unemployment rate among people aged 15 years and above saw a minor drop from 5 per cent in 2023 to 4.9 per cent in 2024, as per the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) data by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. The survey revealed that the percentage of ‘helpers in household enterprises’ decreased from 19.9 per cent to 18.1 per cent from 2023 to 2024. As far as the labour force participation rate (LFPR) is concerned, Overall LFPR remained constant at 56.2 per cent, despite minor variations across categories.
Job losses, end to community support: How USAID fund freeze is affecting India
Field-level volunteers and white-collar professionals have lost work while several vendors and service providers are waiting for their bills to be paid.
Working Conditions
Indian Railways says no to meals and toilet breaks for Loco Pilots
The Indian Railways has rejected a long-pending demand of Loco Pilots to provide a break for having meals and attending nature’s call while on duty. Accepting the recommendations of a high-level committee, the Railway Board said legislation of breaks for meal and attending nature’s call was not operationally feasible. The decision comes amidst an increasing major train accidents across the country where human error was often attributed as the reason.