Tailpiece
An auto driver, trucker & delivery man. And India’s tryst with working-class influencers
Sonali is part of a growing band of blue-collar workers in India who are claiming their space on the Internet—from Instagram to YouTube and Facebook. On social media, painters, mason, construction workers, labourers, delivery boys, truck drivers are owning their work-lives unapologetically and are displaying to the whole wide world their skills, struggles and survival with a new swagger. Their life is no longer their private grind, it is being watched and shared by a content-hungry attentionverse.
Women in the Workforce
Maharashtra fisherwomen write to president, seek coastal rights, heritage site status for colonies
When fisherwomen from over 40 countries participated in the first International Fisherwomen’s Day in Mumbai earlier this week, a resolution regarding this issue was passed.
Tides of Resistance: Fisherwomen, the Ocean and the Fight for Territorial Rights
India’s fisheries employ about 16 million people, with nearly three million women engaged directly or indirectly in the sector. Women comprise more than half of the post-harvest workforce, leading activities such as sorting, drying, vending, and marketing. Yet, in the official imagination, they remain ‘helpers’ rather than fishers. Less than 10% of fisherwomen have formal recognition through cooperatives or welfare boards, leaving them excluded from institutional credit, disaster relief and social protection schemes.
Women discontented with tighter age norm for teacher openings in Delhi
The Delhi’s government’s job openings to the post of 5,346 trained graduate teachers (TGTs), with stricter age restrictions, has fuelled discontent among female applications, who said the age limit of 30 years limits their opportunities. As many as 576 female applicants aged 30 to 38 years have approached the central administrative tribunal to reinstate the older recruitment rules. Previously, there was an age limit of 32 years for men and women, with a further 8-year relaxation for women. A female applicant told HT that nearly 70% of the applicants are married women, and some of them are mothers. Hence, the removal of the age relaxation limits their opportunities to grow professionally.
Migrant Realities
Election Dispatch Bihar: Bihar's Migrant Workers Express Frustration With Politics
VIDEO: This special report highlights the acute crisis of migration from Bihar, driven by a lack of local employment opportunities. The narrative follows young men from districts like Siwan, Saran, and Motihari who are forced to seek labour-intensive jobs in states such as Gujarat and Maharashtra, despite some holding educational degrees. One youth poignantly states, 'I have a degree. I am an account owner... But I only get labour work... Because I am a Bihari.'
Wheels of industry slow down, await workhorses from Bihar Assembly polls
More than 74 million voters are set to cast their vote in Bihar’s Assembly elections on November 6 and 11. Yet the ripples of this democratic exercise stretch far beyond the state’s borders — from the textile mills of Tamil Nadu to the toy factories of Punjab — where machines have fallen silent and production lines slowed to a crawl. With 30-60% of Bihar's migrant workforce on leave for Chhath and polls, industries from Tamil Nadu to Punjab face production slowdowns and labour shortages across key sectors.
Exporting Workers
Youthful North, Ageing South: The Demography Reshaping India's Gulf Story
India’s demographic story is no longer one of uniform population growth but of sharp regional variations. While the southern states are ageing rapidly and outward migration from them is slowing, the northern states are experiencing a youth bulge that is reshaping labour outflows. This emerging north-south divide could redefine India’s migration dynamics and it holds economic implications, particularly for remittances and labour supply to West Asia.
Debt, Jobs and Agnipath: The Reality of 'Dunki' Youth Deported By the US
Jalandhar: Amidst an ongoing crackdown against illegal immigrants, two tragic truck accidents involving young Sikh youths and incidents of cargo thefts, the United States government has deported 54 Indian youths, including women, on a New York-Delhi civilian flight. They were all in handcuffs when they returned.
Jharkhand migrants in Tunisia receive dues, set to return home on November 5 after L&T intervention
According to a video released by the stranded workers, they have allegedly been paid their pending dues, and their tickets have been booked by Larsen & Toubro.
Skilling
Corruption cloud: Skill Ministry blacklists 178 training partners
Absentee students, fake documentation, non-existent centres – these are among the glaring irregularities found in the execution of Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), the flagship training programme of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE). The scheme was launched in 2015 and under it, until June 2025, over 1.64 crore youth have received training and Rs 1,538 crore was allocated for the year 2024-25.
Providing Jobs
Bihar’s Buxar ethanol plant is BJP election postcard. Is it changing lives?
Buxar: A thirty-second viral campaign video opens with a young worker beaming with pride of finding a job at the newly built ethanol factory in the historic Buxar district. This story of a young man staying home rather than migrating to Delhi in search of work is at the heart of the BJP’s campaign in the ongoing Bihar assembly election. Another video credits the ‘double-engine ki sarkar’ for making Bihar the country’s biggest ethanol hub. At a time when India is serious about its ethanol push in petrol vehicles, this modest factory in rural Bihar is becoming the link between Bihar and the national economy. But it’s bigger mandate is to keep Biharis in Bihar.
NDA releases Bihar manifesto: 10 million jobs to youth, ₹10 lakh to EBCs
While the NDA has promised jobs to 10 million youth, its rival INDIA bloc has promised one government job per family if elected to power in Bihar. Besides, Deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader Samrat Choudhary said if voted to power in Bihar again, the NDA will give ₹10 lakh to people under Economically Backward Class (EBC) category.
Prashant Kishor Urges Bihar: Stop Migration, Improve Education & Jobs
VIDEO: Jan Suraaj founder Prashant Kishor said that he has only one request for the people of Bihar. For the last three years, he has been asking them to vote for their children’s future — their education and jobs. He said that after November 14, no child should have to leave Bihar and stay away from their family just to earn ₹10–12,000. He also said that people face problems during Chhath every year, and this time, the government should make better arrangements so that Bihar’s youth don’t have to leave the state.
Bihar's Jobs Crisis: Mission Impossible to Escape the 'BIMARU' Trap?
VIDEO: On this Special Report, the focus is on Bihar's daunting economic challenge of job creation and its struggle to shed the 'BIMARU' tag, featuring insights from 15th Finance Commission Chairman N.K. Singh and economist Dr. Prachi Mishra. Dr. Prachi Mishra states, 'despite these high growth rates, the divergence of Bihar with other states of India has actually increased over time because a number of states are growing even faster than Bihar.'
Policy Changes
How Shram Shakti weakens workers, shields Centre from Constitutional duties
New draft labour policy lets Centre abdicate its role of regulator of workers’ rights, and gives industry a free hand. It uses dharma, rajdharma and the “civilizational ethos and guiding principles” derived from ancient Indian texts to define the role of the Indian state. The Federal presents a three-part series decoding the BJP government's Hindu Economics. Part 1 delves deep into the new draft labour policy that essentially takes the Indian state away from its Constitutional obligations, leaving the worker to fend for himself.
Labour Laws
AI disrupts but what about labour laws
Amazon’s plan to automate over half of its jobs globally has brought to light a question that has got experts thinking. India is aspiring to be a leader in AI, but are its labour laws adequate to deal with the oncoming disruption?
Despair over Jobs
‘Get ready for a jobless future’: Saurabh Mukherjea shares a warning for the Indian middle class
India’s white-collar job growth has stalled, and one of Dalal Street’s well-known voices says this slowdown is not temporary but a fundamental shift. Saurabh Mukherjea, founder and chief investment officer of Marcellus Investment Managers, has argued that traditional corporate jobs are unlikely to bounce back, signalling a major reset in how Indians earn a living. India adds roughly eight million graduates to the workforce every year. This growing talent pool now faces a future where steady corporate roles cannot absorb them.
Wage Revision
Haryana revises wages for part-time, daily-wage workers from January 2026
The Haryana government has announced a revision in wages for part-time and daily-wage workers engaged across government departments, boards, corporations, and public sector undertakings in the state. In Category-I districts, Level 1 workers will now earn Rs 19,900 per month (Rs 765 per day, Rs 96 per hour), while Level 2 and Level 3 workers will receive Rs 23,400 and Rs 24,100 monthly, respectively.
Media Workers
Young Journalists Grapple With Shrinking Job Market in Kashmir
VIDEO: Kashmir's journalism landscape has undergone a dramatic transformation, with young journalists caught between government oversight, disappearing opportunities, and the rise of unregulated social media reporting. In this conflict-affected region, newsrooms now sit empty, and local journalism has been muted by surveillance and shrinking press freedoms. Recent graduates face a stark reality: viable employment platforms have virtually vanished. University faculty report alarmingly low enrollment—just 25-30 students complete journalism degrees annually—citing restricted professional opportunities, declining prestige, and prohibitive education costs.