News from States
J&K: 3 Employees Including Kashmir University PRO Sacked for Being 'Anti-State'
Srinagar: The authorities in Jammu and Kashmir have sacked three government employees, including the Public Relation Officer (PRO) of the University of Kashmir, from the services for their alleged role in “anti-national” activities in the region. The employees included an employee of the University of Kashmir, Faheem Aslam, a revenue official Murawath Hussain Mir and a police constable Arshid Ahmad Thoker. The Lt Governor-led administration ordered the termination of these employees under Section 311 (2) of the Constitution of India. The latest terminations come after the government sacked two doctors earlier last month for their role in the alleged fabrication of evidence in the so-called ‘Shopian double rape and murder’ case, which caused a mass agitation in the valley in 2009.
J&K: Three Bihar workers shot at in Shopian
The injured trio, who come from Bihar and were engaged as construction workers, have been rushed to hospital and a joint team of forces cordoned off the area to try and nab the attackers.
Exploited Workers
‘Physically Exhausting, Mentally Draining’, Amazon Warehouse Workers in NCR Share Their Woes
The US ecommerce major’s recent promise of investing $15 billion promises job growth, but its warehouse workers, who are lowest in the employment chain, raise questions on the nature of job opportunities generated. (Pix: Workers' living spaces)
Urban Company Workers Protest: Don't Take Away our Employment
Video: There is anger among the employees of Urban Company across the country for the past few days. Today the employees protested outside the company's office in Gurugram. Their main demand is that they should be treated as employees and not partners because this leads to exploitation. The other major demand is that all the IDs that were blocked in the recent past should be unblocked. Watch NewsClick's ground report.
Despair over Jobs
Assam: Margherita’s Collieries Sink into Oblivion, Push Workers to the Brink
With five of the total six collieries shut, contract workers turn to illegal mining industry and other odd jobs to make ends meet.
Pending Wages
Engineers Who Built Chandrayaan-3 Launch Pad Weren’t Paid Salaries for Over a Year: Report
The engineers of Heavy Engineering Corporation (HEC) in Ranchi were not being paid for the past 17 months, news agency IANS reported. Despite the issue of unpaid salaries, the firm delivered the mobile launching pad and other crucial and complex equipment ahead of schedule in December 2022. Frontline reported in May that some 2,700 workmen and 450 executives had not got their salaries for the past 14 months or so.
Benefits for Workers
21% Informal Workers Leave PM Pension Scheme, Inflation, Cost of Living Main Factors
The scheme, launched with the aim of extending social security benefits to unorganised workers, caters to those in the 18-40 age group earning less than Rs 15,000 per month. The total subscribers under the scheme fell to 4.43 million on July 11, down 1.19 million from 5.62 million on January 31. According to experts, high inflation and rising cost of living has increased the workers’ difficulties and could be preventing them from contributing to the voluntary pension scheme. called Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-dhan.
93 % informal workers seek social and health benefits over higher pay: study
India's informal workforce, particularly Gen Z employees, are now looking beyond just high wages when seeking professional opportunities. A study by staffing company Quess showed that 93% of informal employees surveyed would choose a job that offered a formal health benefit agreement rather than a higher-paying one without any guarantees. 80 % expect employers to provide ESI, and medical benefits.
Employment News
Report: City tops among metros with ‘maximum job posting’
Kolkata has emerged at the top among all metros in connection with maximum job posting activity with 12 per cent growth (June 2023 vs May 2023), largely on account of increased BPO hiring. Metro cities such as Bangalore (+3%), Delhi NCR (+3%), and Mumbai (+4%) also noted a rebound in hiring demand.
Chinese professor says youth jobless rate might have hit 46.5%
BEIJING, - An unusually public claim by a Chinese professor that the country's youth unemployment rate might have hit close to 50% in March has revived a debate about official statistics and focused attention on a weak labour market. Her article, originally published on Monday, has since been removed.
How AI is helping SquadStack hire women from small cities
On the surface, SquadStack would appear to be like any other traditional call centre, but it is anything but. The only requirement for getting a good-paying job at the company is to have a phone and a net connection. For Bhasin, this initially sounded too good to be true. But now she calls SquadStack a gift from God. She got a call back from the company on the second day after applying. It’s been over three years now.
More Households Accessed NREGA in June 2023 Than Previous Year, Weak Monsoon the Likely Reason
The total number of households was 3.04 crore, the highest monthly number in the previous three years.
Profiles
Farm to PhD: Agri labourer mother earns PhD in Chemistry in Andhra Pradesh
Sake Bharathi, a young woman farmworker from Andhra Pradesh has completed a PhD in Chemistry despite facing challenges such as limited access to education and opportunities. Bharathi took up the role of an agricultural labourer while juggling her responsibilities as a mother and student. She enrolled in a PhD program at Sri Krishna Devaraj University.
The Self-Employed
Boatmen’s Livelihood at Stake in PM Modi's Varanasi
Hundreds of local boatmen went on strike for a week in protest against the proposed water taxi service on the Ganga. 1,500 country boats that have been ferrying tourists on the river Ganga for several decades. Now the administration is introducing water taxis from Gujarat.
A fight for rights
Why are state governments not taking the initiative to acknowledge the common forest rights of thousands of villages across India even though there is enough empirical evidence that the Forest Rights Act is a game-changer? Six nondescript villag¬es with a mixed tribal and non-tribal population in Maharashtra’s Yavatmal recently won community forest rights under the Forest Rights Act, 2006 after years of struggle. They collectively harvested and auctioned tendu leaves this summer and earned Rs 56 lakh in income. Nearly a thousand villagers together earned a wage of Rs 32 lakh — an average of Rs 30-32,000 per amount for their development funds.
Floods Impact Workers
Stranded to die, 500 workers rescued from illegal farmhouses in flood-hit Noida
PTI: More than 500 workers and staffers from the farmhouses were evacuated on Thursday and Friday as Delhi-NCR reels under floods along Yamuna banks. They were those who were hired as help in farmhouses built illegally in the low-lying areas near the river, officials said. Government officials said the workers and staffers of the farmhouses – thousands in number – were not moved to safety in time even as advisories were issued well before the area got inundated.
Front seeks 150-day job for workers in areas hit by floods
The Democratic MGNREGA Front, Punjab, has demanded 150 days of work for unemployed residents of flood-affected villages. The president of the front, Raj Kumar of Nabha, said, “Registered MGNREGA workers residing in flood-affected areas of the state should get benefits as per the provisions of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. They should get 150 days of guaranteed work.”
Waste pickers off work, plastic going back into river
NEW DELHI: Plastic - nearly 9.6 tonnes of it - is flowing back into rivers and landfills as waste-pickers living on the banks of the Yamuna remain stranded and unable to work, according to an assessment conducted by the Chintan Environmental Research and Action Group. Over 800 waste-picker families … have been impacted by incessant rain followed by flooding.