Migrant Realities
Fear of missing SIR: Vote at stake, migrant workers rush home to avoid negligence
A shot at electoral inclusion is taking a heavy toll on Bengal’s migrant workers. Hundreds of thousands have returned to their hometowns from workplaces across India in the past month, worried that missing the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls could jeopardise their voting rights and even raise questions about their citizenship.
Anxious over SIR, sex workers in Kolkata's Sonagachi fear exclusion in voter roll update.
'I have had no ties to my birthplace for decades. I, like many of us here, have no official document to show under the SIR process. I don’t know what to do… I am worried', says sex worker Lipika, who left her home in Canning in South 24 Parganas district.
Employment News
Mandatory eKYC puts crores of MGNREGA workers at risk of losing access to work
The government has made eKYCs mandatory for MGNREGA cardholders to get work from Nov 1, a tech intervention that may deny jobs to crores of rural people. A report released this week shows most rural workers struggle to complete digital verification amid poor connectivity, low smartphone access and migration hurdles threatening attendance-based wages. The situation is worst in Madhya Pradesh, where 93.9 per cent of all workers and 90.5 per cent of active workers are yet to comply with the eKYC mandate. Similarly, 88.8 per cent of all workers in Gujarat and 88.6 per cent of all workers in Haryana are yet to comply with eKYC.
27 lakh MGNREGA workers deleted between October 10 and November 14
Nearly 27 lakh workers’ names were deleted from the database of MGNREGA, the Centre’s rural jobs scheme, between October 10 and November 14 this year, far exceeding the 10.5 lakh additions during the same period. The spike in deletions coincides with the Union government’s push to conduct e-KYC — an electronic know your customer process — for all workers, to weed out ineligible beneficiaries.
India's unemployment rate remains unchanged at 5.2% in October, urban jobless see moderate rise
India's unemployment rate held steady at 5.2% in October 2025, with a slight dip in rural joblessness. Urban unemployment, however, saw an increase. Female unemployment marginally decreased, primarily due to a reduction in rural areas, while male unemployment remained stable overall.
Corporates weather hiring slowdown on the back of apprenticeships
As hiring slows, apprenticeships are becoming a key entry point for engineering graduates into MNCs. Companies are increasingly using this model to train and hire talent from diverse backgrounds, including smaller towns and overlooked colleges, with high conversion rates to full-time roles.
‘Tainted’ in SSC interview list? Calcutta High Court to hear plea of candidates
A petition moved before Calcutta High Court has alleged that several “tainted” candidates feature on the school service commission’s (SSC) interview shortlist. The case has been admitted, and Justice Amrita Sinha is expected to hear it on Wednesday. The Supreme Court had earlier barred “tainted” candidates from participating in the state’s fresh school-teacher recruitment process.
Surveys
Govt to begin year long national migration survey July 2026
The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) will start a year-long migration survey covering almost the entire country from July 2026, with the aim to find out the rate of migration, out-migration, short-term migration as well as the reasons for migration and the net migration that is taking place. Villages in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands will not be covered in the survey as they are difficult to access, MoSPI said in a concept note released on Thursday. The statistics ministry has invited feedback on the concept note by November 30.
Forest Rights
The legal hoodwinking of Adivasis
Last month, when the Chhattisgarh High Court upheld the cancellation of community forest rights (CFR) of Ghatbarra village in Chhattisgarh’s Hasdeo Arand forests, it did not just close a legal case; it also closed the door on justice. For the residents of Ghatbarra, mostly Adivasis, whose forests were taken over and felled for the Parsa East and Kanta Basan coal mine, the ruling added insult to injury. In the nine years since they approached the court seeking restoration of their rights, the damage was already done: while the matter remained sub judice, mining on their community forest lands was fast-tracked and lakhs of trees were felled.
News from States
A new cafe in Bastar will bring ex-Maoists and victims of Naxal violence together
The cafe is no ordinary one. Named “Pandum Cafe”, it will employ people from families that have suffered from Maoist violence, as well as former Maoists who have surrendered. It is an initiative of the government’s Surrender and Rehabilitation Policy.
Tamil Nadu CM launches free nutritious meals scheme for sanitation workers, assures to fulfil their demands
Speaking at the launch of the scheme at Kalaivanar Arangam here on Saturday, the chief minister said whether its scorching heat, heavy rain or floods, sanitation workers remain on the field. It is due to your sustained efforts that lakes, reservoirs and streets stay clean." The announcement comes amid ongoing protests by sanitation workers in Chennai, who have been voicing strong opposition to the privatisation of solid waste management in two zones of the Greater Chennai Corporation and demanding regularisation of their employment.
MGNREGS: Gorakhpur leads in rural employment
Lucknow: Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's political backyard of Gorakhpur has emerged as the leading district in the state in terms of securing 100 days of employment for rural households under the Centre's flagship MGNREGS in the ongoing 2025-26 fiscal year. The eastern UP district provided 100 days of employment to 3,356 households, which was almost 6.8% of the total 49,083 households that benefited under the scheme.
Labour Reforms
States ruled by non-BJP parties insist on wider consultation on draft labour policy and codes
Issues such as the draft labour policy and the implementation of four Labour Codes came up for discussion at the two-day National Conference of Labour & Employment and Industry Ministers and Secretaries of States and the Union Territories that began in New Delhi on Tuesday (November 11, 2025).
Labour Unions
New digital schemes will ‘de-unionise’ workers: Construction Workers Federation
Construction Workers’ Federation of India (CWFI) has questioned the recent launch of the Digital Labour Chowk Portal/App, the establishment of Labour Felicitation Centres (LCFCs), and the new Online Building and Construction Workers Cess Collection Portal by the Union Labour Ministry. The CWFI cited “fundamental flaws” and “anti-worker implications” of the new measures and urged the Centre to stop the roll-out of the schemes.
Farm News
MP govt revokes land pooling scheme for permanent Kumbh city amid farmers protest.
The Madhya Pradesh Government on Monday (November 17, 2025) revoked the proposed land pooling scheme in Ujjain, which was aimed at permanently acquiring 2,378 hectares of land to build permanent infrastructure for the Simhastha Kumbh Mela, 2028. The decision was taken late on Monday by MP CM Mohan Yadav after he held a meeting with senior officials and representatives of various farmer bodies, including the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh that has been objecting to the scheme and had called for Tuesday’s agitation — ‘Ghera Dalo, Dera Dalo’.
Tailpiece
The Brick Kin of Balagarh
Migrant children, how a teacher found them and then they found a school. Chatterjee is a resident of Jirat and teaches at the Balagarh Bijoy Krishna Mahavidyalaya. He spotted these children during his visits to the brick kilns. He says, “It was during the pandemic. I was told that many migrant labourers from Jharkhand, Odisha and Haryana were stuck in the kilns. I used to visit them to give them dry food items. That is when I discovered these children.”
Providing Jobs
OPINION | New Bihar government must prioritise NITI Aayog’s service sector job plan
As the focus shifts to government formation and the priorities of the new dispensation in Bihar, it may be good if the incoming government could implement the suggestions that the NITI Aayog had recently offered to create more service sector jobs in the eastern state.