Caste in Employment
For a breath of dignity: The ‘unfreedom’ of India’s caste-driven labour migration
Caste remains central to the circulation of workers in India’s new economy. Dalits and Adivasis are preponderant in the temporary labour migrant workforce across the country. While they form only 25% of the population, official estimates show that they make up more than 40% of the seasonal migrants. Temporary or seasonal labour migration within India is seven times greater than permanent migration and is up to 16 times the volume of permanent migration for Dalits and Adivasis. They are often employed in the most hazardous, punishing and polluting of all work in the economy.
In the Courts
Give timeline for implementation of policies for migrant sugarcane workers, Bombay HC tells Maharashtra government
The Bombay High Court on July 11 directed the Maharashtra government to give a timeline as to when the proposed policies of prevention of sexual harassment, medical facilities, insurance, education, and safety for migrant sugarcane workers will be implemented. The court took suo motu cognisance of an article by The Hindu on the financial and sexual exploitation of Maharashtra’s migrant workers in the State’s sugar belt.
Regularizing Service Of Few Employees And Not Others Despite Eligibility Is Violative Of Article 14: Supreme Court
The Supreme Court has held that the act of regularizing the services of only some employees and not of other entitled employees, is discriminatory and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India. The Chief Commissioner of Income Tax had found 65 employees entitled to regularization of employment but only 35 could be regularized, since only 35 posts were available.
Persons With Disability Act 1995 Mandated Reservation In Promotions Too : Supreme Court Grants Relief To RBI Employee
The challenge in the petition pertained to securing promotion to the post of Assistant Manager in the RBI under Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunity, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995. In 2003, the employee had appeared in the All India Merit Test to secure promotion to a Class-I post. But he fell short of the qualifying marks by 3 marks. He made representations seeking condonation of the shortfall in marks, which were not considered.
The Gig Economy
Urban Company Workers hit the Streets Against ID Blocking, Rating System
In response to the recent ID blockages and several other issues faced by the Urban Company partners, hundreds of workers have resorted to protesting.
Online Deliveries in Deep Water After Heavy Rains
Heavy rain crippled online deliveries in urban centres, including Delhi and the National Capital Region, swathes of which were flooded by the worst deluge in decades over the weekend. This cut off consumers who have come to depend on them for daily essentials, food and medicine over the past few years and especially since the pandemic.
Gig workers in Karnataka to get free Rs 4-lakh accident and life insurance cover
According to Labour Minister Santosh Lad, an association of gig workers had submitted a request to the labour department to provide accidental cover for all the gig workers in the state, where there are over 2-4 lakh of them, as per estimates.
Gig workers rights: a US- India comparative based on recent developments
Rajasthan recently released the draft Rajasthan Platform Based Gig Workers (Registration and Welfare) Bill, 2023 for public comments. The Rajasthan Gig Workers Bill is a first of its kind legislation in India that assures gig workers of social security, welfare schemes and rights protection. Last week, Uber, Door-dash and other app-based delivery services filed lawsuits in New York courts challenging a legislation that mandated food delivery companies to pay delivery workers a minimum wage $17.96 an hour.
Tailpiece
Ground report: Inside the Odisha tiger reserve where forest officials fear poachers more than animals
The killings of two forest officials, allegedly by poachers, in separate incidents inside Similipal Tiger Reserve have cast the spotlight on what ails the park — from shortage of staff to the lack of infrastructure and logistic support for frontline forest workforce
Pre-election Sops
MP govt declares benefits for contractual workers in state
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has announced that contractual employees in the state will receive benefits similar to permanent government employees. This includes job regularization, equal salary, gratuity, health insurance, and leave facilities. The announcement comes after years of protests by contractual employees. The opposition Congress party has criticized the government for creating the problem in the first place and called for immediate regularization of the staff.
1560 ASHA workers in Telangana receive appointment letters
1560 ASHA workers in Telangana receive appointment letters In addition to the appointment letters, the government has also announced various benefits for ASHA workers
Telangana Government to pay telephone bills of 27,000 ASHA workers from this month
Hyderabad: Health Minister T Harish Rao here on Friday has announced that the government will pay the telephone bills of 27,000 ASHA workers from this month. Distributed appointment letters to the workers, the minister said the government had already announced paid maternity leave to all ASHA workers in June. In the last few years, the government has been consistently revising salaries of ASHA workers. They are drawing monthly Rs. 9,750, while their counterparts in States governed by BJP and Congress receive only Rs 4,000-5,000, Rao said.
Contract Workers
Most factories jumped on contract-work bandwagon even before pandemic hit
Almost all factories in the organised sector began employing contract workers even before the pandemic, showing an increasing trend of contractualisation of the labour force in the country, according to the Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) data released by the Labour Bureau. Of the 198,628 organised factories surveyed in (22 major states and union territories) 98.4 per cent of them employed contract workers in 2019-20, significantly up from around 71 per cent in the previous year. Labour economist KR Shyam Sundar said the new labour codes allow contractualisation in not only peripheral, but core activities as well. “Though not implemented, the labour codes have given a clear policy signal to the labour markets to create a flexible workforce, with minimum costs accruing to the industry,” he added.
Labour code changes, 2019: Cabinet approves code to allow fixed-term employment
New Delhi:The Union cabinet on Wednesday approved the Labour Code on Industrial Relations 2019, allowing companies to hire workers on fixed-term contract of any duration.
Contractual Workers on Strike at Proterial’s (Hitachi) Manesar Plant for Reinstatement of Colleagues
The primary allegation against the management pertains to the role of temporary workers, who are said to perform tasks typically assigned to permanent workers but receive wages defined for temporary employment. The workers' demand charter highlights the lack of promotion and job title changes since joining the workforce, as most workers started as helpers but performed the duties of operators while receiving wages as helpers. This dissatisfaction has led to numerous conflicts between the workers and the management.
Govt imposes ESMA on striking contract health workers
Raipur: The state government has imposed Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) on protesting contractual health workers, granting authorities the power to take action against employees who participated in strikes, including potential job termination.
Contract workers with GCC seek permanent jobs
CHENNAI: Greater Chennai Corporation’s conservancy workers on contract have demanded regularisation of service and fair pay, as they are unable to access insurance coverage, provident fund, safety kits and paid leave despite their years of service. Some are working with the civic body for more than a decade. They also face the risk of termination without any notice.
Contractual women staff to get 6-month maternity leave
RANCHI: The chief minister on Wednesday approved a proposal to give maternity leave to women appointed on contract basis in government departments.