Endangered Workers
Norms flouted, safety measures ignored: Lapses in Uttarkashi tunnel collapse
A comprehensive assessment conducted by India Today's open source intelligence team and corroborated by on-site observations by India Today reporters has brought into light several breaches of regulations. The first major lapse on the part of construction company was that it did not create a safety exit route. As per SOP, tunnels exceeding length of three kilometers are required to incorporate an escape route to ensure that the safety of individuals in the event of a disaster. As per the plan, a 400-millimeter concrete false floor was also planned in the tunnel, but no such flooring exists either. On-site reports revealed that no trench cages or safe tubes were used for the workers working in unprotected parts of a trench.
Uttarkashi Tunnel | 'Hardiness of Trapped Workers Helped Us': NDMA's Ata Hasnain
"Even if we failed in various efforts, the longevity of the workers was guaranteed," General Hasnain told The Quint. “The workers themselves are known to be very tough and hardy people from rural areas who could survive on very little for a long time. That was a very important factor for us too, that even if we failed in our various efforts, at least the longevity of the workers was guaranteed to us.”
Uttarakhand tunnel collapse highlights the precarity of migrant workers
Part of the Char Dham project to build all-weather roads to connect four Hindu pilgrimage sites in Uttarakhand, the Silkyara-Barkot tunnel has been commissioned by the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited, a company owned by the government of India. But neither the government company nor the private firm that bagged the contract to build the tunnel have directly employed the workers. As a result, the workers lack formal contracts of employment, benefits like accident insurance and even safety training.
U'khand tunnel collapse exposes callous attitude towards safety: Unions
"Accidents at work places expose the weaknesses of laws in regard to workplace safety of workers, rather the laxity and violations of whatever existing norms are there get exposed with every incident. The latest, the Silkyara Tunnel collapse, is only one in a series of such accidents," the unions said. The team that has been sent by the Centre to monitor the rescue operation has arrived very late, the unions said. "Other workers are telling that the escape routes/tunnels which are compulsory to meet such emergency situations in the construction of long tunnels were not even planned! They were provided when the 9-km-long Chenani-Nashri tunnel was being constructed in J&K," the statement said.
Who Was Building the Uttarakhand Tunnel That Collapsed?
Some details on Navayuga Engineering Company Limited, from which 41 workers remain trapped in the collapsed tunnel that is part of the Union government's high-profile yet controversial Char Dham project in Uttarkashi, are worth noting.
AI and Jobs
Gen AI a bigger threat to select white collar jobs.
Generative AI is poised to have a more profound impact on certain white-collar jobs than blue-collar ones in the next ten years, showed new workplace research from learning company Pearson. Blue collar roles - especially those requiring more creative, manual, and collaborative tasks – are likely to face less disruptions from the accelerated adoption of Gen AI aimed at driving productivity.
AI threatens wages not jobs
In a sample of 16 European countries, the employment share of sectors exposed to AI increased, with low and medium-skill jobs largely unaffected and highly-skilled positions getting the biggest boost, a Research Bulletin published by the ECB said.
Livelihoods
“We want our forest rights, but Google says no”
The forest department in Rajasthan is using Google satellite images to verify claims of land ownership by villagers. The villagers say that these images are not trustworthy. Once an application is sent, the department searches the land coordinates on Google Earth. They check if the land was occupied by anyone before 2005, and accept or reject the title based on the history of the images. The law states that any technology, such as satellite imagery, should be used to supplement the evidence submitted by a claimant. It is not meant to replace other forms of proof and be considered the only evidence to decide the title.
Tailpiece
Munna Quraishi and his team refuse monetary compensation for rescuing 41 workers trapped in under-construction Uttarakhand tunnel
When all the machines failed, manual drilling by ‘rat-hole miners’ like Munna succeeded in bringing out the workers who were trapped since November 12. This was their first encounter with a rescue operation. The construction company Navyug, which is building the 4.5 kilometers-long Silkyara-Barkot Tunnel had called Wakeel Hassan for this job. He revealed they refused to accept money for this operation as it was for their ‘fellow countrymen.’
Farm News
3 ways AI can help farmers tackle the challenges of modern agriculture
As a researcher studying agricultural and rural policy, I see three promising developments in agricultural AI: federated learning, pest and disease detection and forecasting prices.
In the Courts
Kerala HC lauds migrant workers, says most Malayalees are too 'egoistic' to work hard
Justice Devan Ramachandran was considering a petition raising concern over the engagement of unregistered migrant workers, which also called for their eviction from the agricultural urban wholesale market in Nettoor.
Madras HC rules against recruitment of drivers and conductors on contract basis
. Madras High Court rules against recruitment of drivers and conductors on contract basis by road transport corporation, lauds unions for opposing the move.
Maternity Leave Under CCS Rules Can't Be Denied Because Woman's Husband Has Two Children From His Previous Marriage : Supreme Court
The Supreme Court, on Tuesday, held that a woman cannot be declined maternity leave under the Central Services (Leave Rules ) 1972 with respect to her biological child on the ground that her spouse has two children from his earlier marriage.According to Rule 43, only a female employee with less than two surviving children can seek maternity leave.
Pending Wages
Faridabad: Employees Jobless After the Merger of Village Panchayats with Municipal Corporation
As per reports from Haryana, around 113 employees of the former panchayats of 24 villages who were transferred to the MCF (Municipal Corporation Faridabad) have yet to receive employment and their pending salaries since January 2021. The delay in jobs and salaries has created major unrest among the employees of the erstwhile panchayats, with many claiming that they are facing a survival crisis. The affected employees include 29 sanitation workers, 70 tubewell operators and 14 gardeners. The village panchayats earlier hired these workers; that changed once the panchayats were merged with the MCF in 2021.
Research
The welfare programme economists loved to hate
A recent research paper by Karthik Muralidharan and Paul Niehaus of the University of California, San Diego, and Sandip Sukhtankar of the University of Virginia helps us understand why many economists misread an important welfare initiative. In partnership with the government of undivided Andhra Pradesh, the trio helped randomise the rollout of a smartcard payment system for MGNREGS payments across 157 sub-districts (or mandals) in the 2010-12 period. The smartcard payment was designed to eliminate delays and leakages.
Providing Jobs
Tata’s Hosur iPhone plant to create at least 25,000 additional jobs
About 25,000 to 28,000 people will get jobs at the Tata Group’s iPhone case-manufacturing plant in Hosur, Karnataka, which is already a source of livelihood to 15,000 people. The plant is gearing to double production given the increasing demand.
Election Issues
Migrant workers’ union leaders have decided to enter the poll fray in six Assembly constituencies in Telangana
They will file over 100 candidate nominations in Kamareddy, one of the two seats CM K Chandrashekar Rao will contest from. In the Telangana Assembly elections on November 30, the state’s migrant workers residing in over 20 foreign countries have resolved to enter the poll fray and put up a strong fight to highlight their demands and neglect from the state and central governments.
How Gulf migrants may sway Telangana election outcome
Like Chandraiah, there are at least half a million people from northern Telangana alone who have been to different parts of the Gulf, including Riyadh, Dubai, Sharjah, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Muscat and Oman, for the past two decades. During the 2018 assembly elections, the BRS (then TRS) made a promise to set up a Pravasi Bharat Welfare Board with a budgetary allocation of ₹500 crore to provide financial assistance to families of Telangana youth who had migrated Gulf countries in search of a livelihood…The BRS also promised to provide financial assistance to Gulf returnees towards self-employment. But the promises have not been kept, returnees say.
ई-श्रम अपडेशन के कारण अधर में लटका तेलंगाना के 23 लाख श्रमिकों का भाग्य
तेलंगाना में लगभग 1.10 करोड़ असंगठित श्रमिक है। लेकिन 23 लाख श्रमिकों का भाग्य अधर में लटका हुआ है क्योंकि केंद्र ने अभी तक अपने ई-श्रम पोर्टल पर उनके डेटा और विवरण को अपडेट नहीं किया है। अब तक प्रदेश के 1.10 करोड़ असंगठित मजदूरों में से 40 लाख का डाटा अपलोड किया जा चुका है। अधिकारियों का कहना है कि हालांकि राज्य ने विवरण प्रदान किया है। डेटा अपलोड करने में देरी केंद्र की थोक में डेटा अपलोड करने में असमर्थता के कारण हुई। 23 लाख श्रमिकों में से 12 लाख स्ट्रीट वेंडर और 11 लाख निर्माण श्रमिक हैं।
Poll Promises
BRS announces Gulf Policy, Rs 5 lakh insurance to workers
Hyderabad: BRS working president KT Rama Rao said that soon after coming to power, the BRS would introduce a Gulf policy extending a Rs.5 lakh insurance coverage to people who went to the Gulf countries for livelihood and employment. The new policy would be launched in January and this would be similar to the existing Rythu Bima programme under which Rs.5 lakh insurance was being extended to farmers.
Congress to reach out to over eight million professionals in the gig economy
The party will provide a platform for raising issues related to gig work, seek digital volunteers, new All India Professional Congress head Praveen Chakravarty said