News from States
Karnataka plans online surcharge for gig workers welfare fund
BENGALURU: The Karnataka government is likely to impose a surcharge on online transactions via platforms like Amazon, Ola and Zomato to fund welfare benefits for gig workers. The number of gig workers has grown sharply in the state to an estimated 3 lakh, emerging as a vote bank ahead of the Lok Sabha polls early next year.
Over 2,000 government employees in Manipur transferred to safer districts
In violence-hit Manipur, over 2,000 government employees — including police personnel — were “transferred to districts where they would face no threats,” according to a status report submitted by the State government in the Supreme Court earlier this month.
Rape, Molested Accused won't Get Govt Jobs, Says Baghel
Raipur: Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel on Tuesday announced that the accused in rape, molestation and other crimes against women and girls will be barred from government jobs in the state. Mr Baghel made the announcement while addressing the state level Independence Day function held here.
UP ASHAs Unpaid for 6 Months, Officials Directed to Ensure Payment
Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh (UP) deputy chief minister (CM) Brajesh Pathak instructed nodal officers to pay honorarium and incentives to Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) by the seventh of every month and warned of strict action if the payment is delayed for even one day.
In the Courts
Dalit employee death: Consistent attempts to tarnish image amount to abetting suicide, rules Karnataka HC
A single judge bench of the Karnataka HC dismissed a plea by three executives of the apparel firm, Lifestyle International Private Limited, for quashing of an abetment to suicide case registered against them over the death of a 35-year-old visual merchandising executive, Vivek Raj, on June 4 this year in Bengaluru. Ahead of his death, Vivek had filed internal complaints with the company’s committee for prevention of sexual harassment over bullying in the office regarding his sexual orientation. A day before his death, he had also filed a police complaint of caste discrimination under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act of 1989.
Supreme Court allows Karnataka contract workers to work in factory canteens
BENGALURU: More than 700 large factories across the state will benefit from a Supreme Court order that allows contract workers to work in factory canteens. The Karnataka Employers’ Association, that comprises owners of factories, businesses and establishments, has won a victory against certain provisions laid down on canteen workers, which said that factories cannot employ contract workers in canteens. The relevant sections of the Factories’ Act had said that factories and manufacturers with a workforce of 250 would have to mandatorily set up an on-site canteen for workers, but in 1997, had ensured that larger factories could not do so because the government rule banned hiring of contract labour in canteens.
‘Employer doesn’t allot work to employee? Then it is retrenchment’: JKL HC
Aga Syed Mustafa was accused by JK Handicrafts of “abandoning” his job, but the court ruled that the employee could not work because he wasn’t assigned work by his employer or order of a posting, and not because it was Mustafa’s wish to quit.
Employment News
Scheme for formal employment generation falls short of target
The government has fallen short of its target for employment generation in the formal sector under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Rojgar Yojana (ABRY), launched in 2020 at the time of the pandemic. As per latest government data, enrolments under ABRY stood at 6.04 million as on July 22, 2023, well short of the revised target of generating 7.18 million jobs under the scheme but higher than its initial target of 5.85 million. Disbursements under the scheme are way behind target.
China Halts Publication of Youth Unemployment Report as Numbers Hit Record High
HONG KONG — China's youth unemployment hit a record high in April with 20.4% of 16- to 24-year-olds unable to find jobs, the worst rate since the country's National Statistics Bureau started publishing the report in 2018.
Top Indian companies have very few people with disabilities on rolls
Even as a growing number of companies embrace affirmative action and commit to hiring a diverse workforce, India's top corporates have only three persons with disabilities ( PwD) for every 1,000 employees on rolls, an ET analysis showed. According to latest workforce data reported by Nifty 50 constituent companies as part of their annual disclosures, only five out of these 50 companies have more than 1% people with disabilities on their rolls, with four of them being public sector companies.
Tailpiece
Mystery of a 20-room house in Kandhamal
Daringbadi, Odisha: A huge, unpainted house stands on the outskirts of Jidingimala village, in an area surrounded with forests and hills, in Odisha’s Kandhamal district. Its scale is in sharp contrast to what you see around, a neighbourhood where people mostly live in smaller houses or huts. Nimindra Pradhan, a farmer turned migrant worker, is building a 20-room house at Jidingimala village, modelled on the houses he helps build as a migrant worker in Kerala.
Benefits for Workers
India plans welfare measures for gig workers ahead of elections
India plans to roll out welfare measures for "gig" workers employed through platforms like Amazon, Uber and India's Zomato as Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government prepares for elections, government and trade union officials said.
Skilling
Drones to give wings to rural women, create two crore 'lakhpati didis'
Pitching for leveraging the potential of science and technology in rural development, PM Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced a new scheme to train members of 15,000 women's self-help groups (SHGs) in the use of drones in the farm sector, and said his government was working with the aim of creating 2 crore 'lakhpati didis' in villages.
Cabinet clears Rs 13k cr plan to train artisans
The Rs 13,000-crore 'Vishwakarma Yojna' is to boost livelihood opportunities for craftsmen pursing traditional skills. One person each from the eligible families will get collateral free subsidised loans of up to Rs 2 lakh in two tranches at a concessional interest rate of 5%... in the first year, the scheme will cover 6 lakh families craftsmen, including carpenters, boat makers, blacksmiths, cobblers, masons, barbers, washermen, tailors and makers of brooms toys and garlands.
Climate Change and Workers
Deadly Intersection of Labour Exploitation and Climate Change
In San Bernardino, California, where retail giant Amazon has a massive warehouse and fulfillment centre, daily temperatures reached triple digits for the majority of days in July and have been dangerously hot all summer. Workers with the Inland Empire Amazon Workers United (IEAWU) protested the dangerous conditions and complained to CAL-OSHA, the state’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health. One worker, Daniel Rivera, told Fox11, “Amazon’s main focus is production. Safety is not the priority until it’s too late.” What we are witnessing with such increasingly common instances is capitalism-induced climate change intersecting with capitalism-induced labour exploitation. It’s a deadly combination and one that is being discussed in ways that obscure its causes and solutions.
Dying at Work
Rajasthan’s Killer Sandstone Mines
Mine workers in Rajasthan are perhaps the most vulnerable among manual workers in India’s unorganised sector. They are exposed to various kinds of dust, which makes them very susceptible to developing severe occupational lung diseases, including silicosis. “I have lost four men in my family. My husband went first, followed by my three sons. They all worked and died in the mines,” said a middle-aged woman tearfully.
Profiles
‘My independence day has come to me over and over again’
Reba Das, 43, Vegetable vendor, Delhi.
Many people tell me why I didn’t make use of my school education to do better in life. But I schooled myself in the classrooms that life let me into and know that I have learnt many lessons that others have not. And I am good at arithmetic. The first year was tough as there were many vegetable vendors in the vicinity. So I kept my prices affordable and slashed my profit margins...I went door-to-door to find out what people wanted and sourced them, my husband and me taking turns to babysit our child.
‘I rode a horse and wore Rajvadi clothes at my wedding to make a point’
Devraj Parmar, 25 Construction worker, Gangda. I got married in February to Aruna. For my wedding, I got two mares and we carried out varghodo (bridegroom procession) in my village along with a music party for garba, which was attended by around 700 people. For the occasion, I also got two pairs of Rajvadi (royal) clothes stitched that are traditionally worn by people from the Kshatriya community. Each pair cost me Rs 8,000. The reason for riding a horse and wearing Rajvadi clothes was to make a point — no caste is upper or lower in the society and that we, Scheduled Castes (SC), can ride a horse and carry out the varghodo. And that so-called lower castes can do everything that the so-called upper castes do.