Migrant Realities
13 Jharkhand migrant workers return home from Gujarat after alleged harassment, denied food and salaries
All 13 migrant workers from Jharkhand’s East Singhbhum district, who were allegedly harassed by authorities of the private company that employed them, returned home safely on Friday following an intervention of the state government, a labour department official said. It was alleged that the company in Morbi district of Gujarat denied them food and other facilities, and also did not pay their salaries when they wanted to go home. The Migrant Control Cell of the Jharkhand government’s labour department later coordinated with the Morbi administration to get them their dues of around Rs 68,000.
Employment News
Rains, recession, automation lead to job drought at Ahmedabad’s labour nakas
AHMEDABAD, Gujarat: Every morning at 7 o’clock, Jitubhai Somdhi walks to the Gurukul labour centre or kadia naka, one of Ahmedabad’s roughly 100 informal labour markets, to seek work for the day. This year, his average has been a mere seven to 10 days per month. In June, as the monsoon set in across Gujarat, he worked for only three days and earned 3,000 rupees, less than a third of his pre-Covid-19 income. Even as thousands of informal-sector workers struggle amid the construction slowdown in Gujarat, the government spent less than 20% of its labour cess funds for workers’ welfare last year.
Diamond City stares at gloomy paydays amid Trump tariff cloud
In Surat, 37-year-old Anant Patel currently earns more in a single day ferrying passengers in his cab through the city’s tangled traffic than others do shaping diamonds, once considered too exorbitant. Patel knows the grind of diamond polishing well — he once sat hunched over a table under harsh lights, coaxing brilliance from rough stones. But he counts himself lucky for having walked away years ago. Now, as the weight of high US tariffs bears down on India’s diamond capital, the future of the trade looks clouded. His peers remain in the storm’s eye, facing uncertainty over pay as demand for diamonds falters.
Why young Indians are not interested in the prime minister’s ambitious internship scheme
The government aims to enroll 1 crore interns over five years. In the first two phases, just over 30,000 signed up. Kumar’s monthly expenses amount to around Rs 13,000 – in effect, he is paying Rs 8,000 out of his pocket to participate in the internship scheme. “It is a real struggle,” he said. “For somebody like me who comes from a poor background, this is a huge expense to incur.” Kumar is only able to manage because his family sends him money.
Only 29% agriculture graduates found jobs during campus placements in 2023-24
Despite a booming agricultural sector and a surge in student enrolment, India's top agricultural colleges are grappling with dismal campus placement at the undergraduate level. NIRF data show nearly 29% of UG students at top agricultural institutes got jobs in 2023-24 soon after finishing the course, while about 64% went on to further study that year. Desire for higher studies, limited industry-academia connection and inability of students to apply the knowledge in jobs are cited as the main reasons.
In the Courts
HC: Transgender Inclusion In Jobs Still Not Adequate
Lamenting the lack of "adequate steps" by both the Centre and Delhi govt to ensure transgenders' participation in public employment, Delhi High Court on Monday decided to treat the matter as a public interest litigation (PIL). The court expanded the scope of an individual plea—seeking reservation for a court attendant post—into a PIL to examine the measures taken in Delhi for the welfare of transgender persons since the landmark 2014 NALSA verdict of the Supreme Court. The verdict had recognised transgender people as the "third gender", affirming their fundamental rights to equality, dignity and self-identity under the Constitution.
Women in the Workforce
Sundarbans ASHA workers get training for dealing with snakebite in the mangrove delta
More than 80 accredited social health activists (ASHA) in the Sundarbans were part of a training session to mitigate snakebite deaths in the mangrove delta. The session — held recently at the Kultali BDO office in Jamtala, South 24-Parganas — provided the participants with essential knowledge on identifying the common venomous and non-venomous snake species found in and around the mangrove delta.
‘Forced to do extra duties’: 6 months on, over 50,000 anganwadi workers in Punjab yet to get honorarium
Over 50,000 anganwadi workers and helpers working in nearly 27,000 centres across Punjab have not received their honorarium for the past six months. The workers get ₹11,000 per month, of which ₹4,500 is the honorarium component. This includes ₹3,000 from the Centre and ₹1,500 from the state government. However, since April, this amount has not been credited into their accounts, union leaders alleged.
AI and Jobs
AI is not killing jobs, US study finds
Research from economists at the Yale University Budget Lab and the Brookings Institution think-tank indicates that, since OpenAI launched its popular chatbot in November 2022, generative AI has not had a more dramatic effect on employment than earlier technological breakthroughs.
Inside the Bank Where Almost Every Employee Is a Gig Worker
At Standard Chartered, a ‘talent marketplace’ lets workers take on in-house ‘gigs’ to smooth the way for AI adoption. And the idea is gaining traction elsewhere as the technology upends workforces…The notion of a traditional full-time job is becoming increasingly irrelevant, as the global bank looks to remake its workforce for the AI age. Its employees still have job titles and descriptions, but within the firm they are acting more like gig workers, taking on ad-hoc projects that may have little or nothing to do with the job for which they were hired.
Livelihoods
This yield from Jharkhand’s trees might hold the key to rural livelihoods
Lac is used in a vast range of products. For many cultivators, it yields greater income than agriculture. Four years ago migrant worker Lawrence Kandulna returned home permanently to his village in Jharkhand’s Khunti to cultivate lac for the economic prospects in offered.
In Photos | Salt: A Second Cry for Freedom
For the Koli community, a Denotified Tribe once unjustly labelled as "criminal" under British-era Criminal Tribes Act of 1871, salt is both a source of livelihood and a symbol of enduring hardship. An 85-year-old Agariya – a traditional salt farmer from the Koli community – works the salt pans of the Little Rann of Kutch. Using a 40 kilogram wooden rake, he represents a 400-year-old ancestral practice of manually harvesting salt from underground brine, a skill passed down through generations
Delhi’s waste pickers demand inclusion as formal recycling economy dumps them
According to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), of the 11,300 tonnes of unsorted waste generated daily, 7,000 are sent to four waste-to-energy plants.
Near Bhalswa landfill in Delhi, Seema grips a large white sack on her shoulder, scanning the shrinking edges of the dump where she once gathered plastic and metal to sustain her family. “They chase us away as if we are the ones polluting, not picking up waste,” said the 52-year-old.
For decades, she collected over 50 kg of recyclables daily; today, she barely gathers 20 kg.
Tailpiece
Zomato and HDFC Pension Pave New Path for Gig Workers' Financial Security
Zomato, HDFC Pension, and KFin Technologies have launched a groundbreaking initiative to provide retirement savings benefits for Zomato's delivery partners. This collaboration introduces the 'NPS Platform Workers Model', aiming to secure the financial future of gig workers in India's burgeoning economy. It will enable delivery partners to contribute to retirement savings.
Policy Changes
Broader Labour Survey on cards to capture more data on skilling
The Ministry of Skills Development will soon request PLFS expansion. This seeks skilling data. It will address demand-supply gaps. New additions include vocational education quality and youth unemployment rates. These changes are planned for the next fiscal year. This supports the National Policy for Skill Development 2025. The goal is to create a skilled workforce for industry needs.
Draft labour policy unites social security schemes
Universal and portable social security is a major component of the draft National Labour and Employment Policy, which proposes to create a universal account by integrating the Employees Provident Fund Organisation, Employees State Insurance Corporation, Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, e-SHRAM, and the State welfare boards. The draft policy, known as the Shram Shakti Niti 2025, was released on Wednesday for public consultation. It aims at creating universal, portable social security accounts for all workers by 2030
Election Issues
There’s something special about Bihar
The PM’s one-time generous transfer to Bihar’s women amounts to Rs 7,500 crore. Contrast this with the Rs 1,600 crore relief package the PM promised Punjab when he came here about three weeks ago. BJP sources say this is just the first tranche and that Punjab needs to do its homework before more can be sent, but no such questions are being asked for the Bihar package.
In Bihar PM vows to end migration with 62K cr initiatives
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a skill development university in Bihar, named after Karpoori Thakur, and launched ₹62,000 crore youth initiatives. He emphasized ending talent migration from the state by integrating ITIs with industries and establishing skill labs. Additionally, interest-free education loans and increased scholarships were announced to support students.
Bihar CM Nitish Kumar transfers ₹10,000 each to 25 lakh women under employment scheme
Earlier on September 26, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the scheme and had transferred the fund of ₹7500 crore to the bank accounts of 75 lakh women through video conferencing from Delhi
Bihar elections: Pre-poll schemes put youth, women in focus; new policies unveiled
PM Modi will inaugurate Jan Nayak Karpoori Thakur Skill University on Saturday. By honouring Thakur, NDA govt signalled a strategic outreach to these communities and reinforced backward caste consolidatioin in the poll-bound state.
One migrant one vote/EC scan on all professionals working outside Bengal
When the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls begins in October, people working outside Bengal, including the large contingent of migrant workers, would have to declare while filling up the enumeration form that they are not enrolled as voters elsewhere. This is to ensure no one is registered as a voter at multiple places,” said a source in the Election Commission of India.
Labour Rights
Are workers' rights being eroded?
Between June and September, 57 workers were killed in three industrial accidents. The British Safety Council estimates that one in four fatal workplace accidents worldwide occur in India. This is a conservative figure, given the widespread underreporting of workplace injuries and deaths, especially among contract and informal workers whose employment is neither registered nor protected by law. (Photo: the spot where the scaffolding came crashing down at the Ennore power plant near Chennai on September 30.)