Research
‘Labouring Lives’: A well-researched account of labourers in unorganised sectors and their struggles
'Labouring Lives: Industry and Informality in New India', harnesses insights gained from extensive field visits to factories and the homes of workers in Gurugram, Noida, and Manesar. Archana Aggarwal deftly entwines empirical data with poignant personal anecdotes. In this enlightening exploration, she delves deep into the complex interplay between industry and informality in contemporary India. With eloquence and scholarly finesse, the book compels the reader to reconsider the very essence of progress as labourers continue to struggle for a livelihood.
Analysis
Growth, Structural Change, and Opportunities: Who has Benefited?
While the connection between GDP and job growth in India has been poor, there has been a rapid increase of women in the modern services; while there has been greater job mobility, this has been very limited among the SCs/STs; and the jump in work participation post Covid has been in self-employment.
Providing Jobs
Amazon to train, offer jobs to persons with disabilities in five states
Amazon India to train employable Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) and bring them to the mainstream workforce. The e-tailer has signed MoUs with Haryana, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to run this programme until 2026.
Railways MoU with Airbus to create 15,000 job opportunities for Indian students
With an aim to create 15,000 job opportunities for Indian students and strengthen the country’s aviation sector, Indian Railways’ Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya (GSV), Vadodara, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with European aviation major Airbus earlier this month.
Tailpiece
Don’t Speak To Media: BYJU’S New Social Media Policy For Employees Amidst Restructuring Exercise
Facing numerous challenges, edtech giant BYJU’S has implemented a stringent new social media policy, instructing its employees to refrain from interacting with media outlets, according to Inc42 sources.
The policy explicitly prohibits employees from sharing any information or material related to Think & Learn Private Limited, such as screenshots, videos, and photos, with the media. “Any violation of this (policy) will be taken up by the company seriously and may result in appropriate disciplinary and legal action initiated against you,” the document states.
Employment News
Shrinking the safety net
Cuts in MNREGA budget, refusal to acknowledge problems with Aadhaar-based payment system, risk pushing rural workers into extreme poverty
NREGA Workers Caught Between job Card Deletions and Aadhaar Seeding
Technical glitches can take away the right to work if one applies for a new card, while names disappear from muster rolls after Aadhaar linking.
Budget progressively coming down; Centre aims to dilute MGNREGS, says Kerala Minister M.B. Rajesh
Five months into the financial year 2023-24, Kerala has only 6.5% of funds allotted by the Centre for Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) left, Kerala Minister for Local Self-Government M.B. Rajesh told The Hindu. This is a recurrent problem that repeats each year because of progressive budget cuts by the Union government, Mr. Rajesh said, accusing the Narendra Modi government of diluting the spirit of the programme
MGNREGS social audit unit in a state of paralysis in many states
An oft-repeated criticism against the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme is its alleged high rate of corruption. But the scheme’s inbuilt mechanism to combat such corruption — the social audit units meant to detect any cases of malpractice — has not been backed by the effective recovery of embezzled funds.
Frontline job creation drops 17.5 per cent to over 6.6 million in FY23: report
The number of frontline jobs created declined 17.5% year on year in 2022-23 as macroeconomic headwinds and an uncertain economic environment impacted manpower demand in certain sectors, shows a report by frontline workforce management platform BetterPlace. About 6.60 million frontline jobs - which include essential customer-facing roles such as sales and business development executives, call centre workers, delivery personnel, marketing executives, and housekeeping staff among others - were created in the country last fiscal year compared to eight million in FY22, according to BetterPlace's Frontline Index Report based on more than three million data points.
Delhi government yet to fill 4,500 reserved posts for OBCs
At a time when political parties have made a case for reservation for women belonging to Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in Lok Sabha and state legislatures, there are 4,680 government posts reserved for OBCs lying vacant in Delhi.
UP: Sword of Joblessness Hangs Over 400 Staff After Sanjay Gandhi Hospital in Amethi Shut Down
The decision to cancel registration was taken after a patient died due to alleged negligence; hospital says it wasn’t given time to explain.
Dying at Work
For decades, BRO labourers faced a lonely death. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has now ordered welfare measures.
For years, thousands of casually paid labourers (CPLs) of the Border Roads Organisation have worked in extreme high altitude and weather conditions building infrastructure along the borders. However, most families of those who die while carrying out their task, could not even perform their last rites. Rajnath Singh approved increase in funeral expenditure & transportation of mortal remains for casually paid labourers killed while working in challenging terrains to build roads in border areas.
Mobilising Workers
Under Rakesh Tikait, Thousands of Farmers Protest Against Yogi Govt
Farmers from the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), led by Rakesh Tikait, held a Kisan Mazdoor Mahapanchayat to question the unfulfilled promises made in the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's election manifesto. The Mahapanchayat attracted farmers from Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Haryana as they feel they have lost the guarantees previously marketed by the Modi government.
TN: Construction Workers Rally for 24-Point Charter of Demands
Construction workers staged a rally from Egmore to the Tamil Nadu Secretariat in Chennai to grab the attention of the state government. They reiterated their demands to pass a GO and implement the decisions taken by the Tamil Nadu Construction Workers’ Welfare Board (TNCWWB). In its number 35, 36, and 37 meetings, CWWB made several decisions. They include increasing the pension from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000, pensions from the day a worker turns 60, and pensions for women workers from the age of 55. Additionally, they also decided that the pension should be given by the 10th of every month.
Odisha: Strike by Over 1.3 Lakh Primary Teachers Enters 6th day, Demands Permanent Jobs
The government school teachers are pressing for the abolition of the contractual appointment system and reimplementation of old pension scheme.
8,000 Sanitation Workers in Patna on Strike for Higher Pay and Job Security
The protesting sanitation workers have threatened not to return to work until PMC authorities fulfil their demands. We want a minimum monthly wage of Rs 18,000 to 20,000 instead of Rs 8,000 to 10,000. Is it wrong to demand more for hard work?” Munna Kumar, a striking sanitation worker, told NewsClick.
Buxar Power Plant Indefinite Strike Enters 3rd Day
Patna: The indefinite strike by nearly 3,000 workers of the under-construction Buxar Thermal Power Project in Bihar’s Chausa village entered the third day on Saturday. The protesting workers have demanded increased wages and only eight hours of work. A senior official of the power plant said that more than 80% of construction has been affected. The workers struck work suddenly on September 21 to protest low wages and 12 hours of work. On Saturday, they started protesting in their residential colonies.
Unused Welfare Funds
Three years and counting: children of construction workers in Delhi await education aid
Thousands of children of construction workers in the city have not received their annual financial assistance for education for the past three academic years, official sources have told The Hindu. The anti corruption branch probe into issue of ‘ghost workers’ registered with the welfare board is causing delay. Sources say the Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board is sitting on a corpus of ₹3,800 crore; workers also yet to receive ₹5,000 relief for ban on construction activity.