India's Labour Economy
India's labour market undergoing structural transformation: SBI report
India's labour market is undergoing a deep structural transformation with self-entrepreneurship and higher education as key enablers, according to an SBI report. The report argues that the government's PLFS has been ignorantly interpreted and the political slugfest around it was misplaced. It says that self-employment in India's labour force has always been trending much above 50% even during the 1980s and 90s to 2000s. And argues that govt schemes to promote entrepreneurship at the bottom of the pyramid are imparting a structural transformation in labour markets in India.
Watch: What India's Growing Army of Unpaid Workers Means for It
How is the quality of labour India is producing? What does it mean for the country's employment landscape? Labour economist Professor Santosh Mehrotra tells The Wire’s founding editor M.K. Venu that the unpaid workers’ number has growth from 40 million in 2017-18 to 95 million in 2022-23.
Educate women for growth
Train them for non-farm, salaried jobs to boost their participation in paid work. A look at the improvement in female LFPR has revealed a concerning fact about its connection to education. The increase in LFPR is inversely related to the education level. It means that the increase in LFPR was much higher among illiterate and less-educated females compared to graduate and post-graduate females. This fact undermines the quality of the improvement in female LFPR. It also creates doubts about the hypothesis that the rise in female LFPR is a result of higher education enrolments.
Women in the Workforce
Navy to bring in new ergonomic workwear for women on warships, standardise all uniforms
The Indian Navy is looking at introducing an ergonomic design of overalls for women serving onboard warships, with the move coming on the back of their induction in the personnel below officer rank (PBOR) cadre for the first time, and their numbers poised to steadily grow in the coming years, officials aware of the development said.
More women learning on the job as manpower crunch hits shop floors
“Factories are becoming increasingly gender agnostic as they are facing a big talent shortage,” said Sumit Kumar, chief business officer of TeamLease Degree Apprenticeship. “India has a skill shortage of approximately 130-150 million people across various sectors,” he said. The uptick is largely driven by a boom in auto, EV, electronics and phone manufacturing, Kumar said.
Labour Demands
CITU Asks Centre to Not Send Indian Workers to Israel
The Israeli Builders Association plan to hire 50,000-1,00,000 Indian workers to replace 90,000 Palestinian workers who lost their work permits.
Why India Should not Send Workers to Israel
Ever since the conflict began on October 7, around 90,000 work permits of Palestinian workers, who constitute around 25% of the human resources in the construction sector, have been revoked by the Israeli state. But the expectation that Indians would replace Palestinian workers poses multiple political and moral issues.
Is India planning to send 1 lakh construction workers to Israel? MEA clarifies
As per the reports, Israeli construction industry seeks permission to replace Palestinian workers with 100,000 Indian labourers. However, MEA India said they are unaware of such requests from Tel Aviv.
UP 112 helpline workers embark on a strike
उत्तर प्रदेश में वेतन में बढ़ोतरी की मांग कर रही हेल्पलाइन नंबर 112 की कॉल सेंटर कर्मचारियों पर पुलिस ने दंगा करने के आरोप में दायर की प्राथमिकी
UP Dial 112 Workers Suspend Strike After Akhilesh Promises to Raise Issue in Assembly
But the future of around 700 workers is uncertain as the new outsourcing company started fresh hiring. Contractual women employees of emergency services have been demanding an increase in the take-home salary from Rs 11,800 to Rs 18,000,two paid leaves a month, job security, gratuity and provident fund.
Tamil Nadu Spinning Mills Strike as Raw Materials Turn Costlier, Yarn Gets Cheaper
Open-end (OE) spinning mills around western Tamil Nadu’s Tirupur and Coimbatore are unable to withstand the rising cost of raw material, decreasing yarn price and market slowdown. Urging the government to control the prices, more than 600 spinning mills halted production on Tuesday till November 30.
Women Construction Workers Demand Equal pay for Equal Work
The national convention of women construction workers in Kanyakumari also demanded a law against sexual harassment in the workplace.
Agitation against Centre’s decision to privatise Visakhapatnam Steel Plant to complete 1,000 days on November 8
The resilient employees and trade unions, under the banner of Visakha Ukku Parirakshana Porata Committee, have been able to successfully stall the process from going further.
Analysis
Forcing Jharkhand’s Workers out of NREGA
In a poor state where NREGA can be a form of security for casual workers, reduced funding and the centre’s insistence on the use of inappropriate technologies, and an insensitive state bureaucracy have instead made workers wary of the programme.
Endangered Workers
Uttarakhand tunnel collapse: A family on edge in Odisha, govt jumps to act in Jharkhand
Other than five from Odisha, the workers trapped inside include 15 from Jharkhand, eight from Uttar Pradesh, four from Bihar, three from West Bengal, two each from Uttarakhand and Assam, and one from Himachal Pradesh.
Uttarkashi tunnel collapse: Workers protest against 'slow pace' of rescue operations at Silkyara.
The protesters tried to break the barricades and enter inside the tunnel but were stopped by police. They expressed dissatisfaction with the "slow pace of rescue operation".
Uttarakhand tunnel collapse: Workers, family members stage protest as rescue hampered
The authorities are flying in new equipment from New Delhi to assist in the operations. The tunnel on the Brahmakhal-Yamunotri national highway collapsed in the early hours of Sunday, leaving 40 workers trapped inside. The tunnel is part of the Char Dham Road Project to build all-weather roads in Uttarakhand. The protest began after a plan to insert steel pipes through the rubble to rescue the workers failed on Tuesday evening. “The Navyuga officials are not talking to us properly, neither there is any actual information of what is happening inside,” Luv Kumar Raturi, a worker, was quoted as saying by The Indian Express. “We are also not allowed to go inside the tunnel. It is the fourth day and nothing conclusive is happening. Those inside are our brothers.”
Benefits for Workers
EPF Act Can Be Applied Even To Factories Not Engaged In Schedule 1 Industries: Supreme Court Rejects Plea Of Umbrella Making Unit
The Supreme Court recently held that a notification under clause (b) of sub-Section (3) of Section 1 of the Employees’ Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952, can be issued by the Central Government in respect of factories engaged in any industry that has not been not specified in Schedule I. The Top Court was considering whether a factory, which is not specified in Schedule 1 of the Act, can be covered under the EPF Act.
Tailpiece
Apple agrees to $25 million fine for favouring immigrants over US citizens, green card holders for job roles
Apple has agreed to pay $25 million in a settlement with the United States Department of Justice, resolving allegations that the company violated federal laws by favouring immigrant workers over American citizens and green card holders for specific job roles. This settlement stands as the largest ever by the Justice Department in cases related to discrimination based on citizenship. The terms require Apple to pay $6.75 million in civil penalties and allocate $18.25 million to an unspecified number of affected workers.
Jobseekers
The young and jobless in Ladakh wait for Delhi to keep its 2019 promise
Not only has the Centre not been able to generate new opportunities for Ladakh’s youth, separation from Jammu and Kashmir has also shrunk the older pool of jobs.
Bihar for Biharis: How a demand for nativist quotas has put Nitish Kumar in a spot
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday handed out appointment letters to 25,000 of the 1.2 lakh school teachers recruited by the Bihar Public Service Commission in October. Even as Kumar was giving out the letters at an event in Patna’s Gandhi Maidan, Opposition leaders alleged that the government had deprived Biharis by recruiting thousands of teachers from other states.
Battling Air Pollution
Delhi Air Pollution: Working Class Stays Outdoors Despite Health Issues, Sees a Cut in Pay
New Delhi: Ramash starts work at 6 am, driving his auto across Delhi for more than 12 hours each day. He suffers from a heart condition and diabetes. He said the recent spike in air pollution has worsened his health issues. However, he cannot stop working because he has to support his family.