Migrant Realities
Learning from Kerala and Bengal on migrant workers
Among the interstate migrant workers arriving in Kerala, those from West Bengal form the largest cohort. The Kerala model of providing social health security to interstate migrant workers has been widely discussed. What has received lesser attention is the work done by states sending out those workers. the West Bengal government has set up a Migrant Welfare Board to help workers migrating out of the state. It aims to prevent workers from the state being labelled as Bangladeshis, kept away from workplaces, and illegally detained by the police. Giving them photo id cards would also help.
View: Wherever, whenever migrant money
Kerala has seen a surge in interstate migration in the last two decades, with people from various states seeking better job opportunities. However, these migrants face challenges in remitting money to their families, paying high transaction costs and using agents to transfer money. A 2023 study by the Science and Engineering Research Board and Mahatma Gandhi University found that a significant portion of these migrants express reservations about the reliability of digital platforms for remitting funds independently.
Farm News
Just lip service for farmers in the budget
Nearly 50 per cent of the country’s farmers are in debt. The PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojna amount has been stuck at Rs 6000 per annum since 2016… In 2018-19, their average household income was Rs 10,218/- per month as projected by the 77th round of the National Sample Survey (NSSO). Yet, the interim budget offered no sops to them.
Govt seeks nod for extra spending of over 78,600 crore
The supplementary demands tabled in the House showed that a major readjustment was made in the case of funds for the schemes run by the agriculture ministry. For the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi, a scheme for giving income support to farmers, extra funds sought is ₹60,000 crore. This, however, is met through savings from various other spending items and extra receipts and does not involve additional cash outgo.
Farmers end protest on Noida Expressway, Noida-Delhi route opened after 6 hours
Farmers in Noida and Greater Noida have been protesting since December 2023 with demands for higher compensation and developed plots against their land acquired by the local development authorities in the past.
Employment News
More than 1200 students were hired for internships, fresher jobs every day in India in 2023
Internshala’s recent report highlights a notable surge in hiring, with more than 4.3 lakh students securing internships and fresher jobs which is a substantial 16.4% increase from the previous year’s 3.7 lakh plus hires in 2022. The findings indicate a robust and evolving job market, shaped by seasonal patterns, industry preferences, geographical distribution and diverse educational backgrounds.
Last edition of Rozgar mela before polls on Feb 12
Over 1 lakh appointment letters are expected to be distributed during the event to fill vacancies in Central government offices
Pune News: Over 2900 applicants in queue for a single job opening at Hinjewadi as seen in a viral video
Pune--Recently, a striking event took place in Pune, Hinjewadi, shedding light on the severe challenges in the job market. A viral video depicting an overwhelming crowd at a Cognizant walk-in drive for a single job vacancy has gone viral, highlighting the intensity of the unemployment issue in the region.
Will pay pending dues to 21 lakh MGNREGA workers by Feb 21: Mamata Banerjee
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday announced that her government would be transferring wages to the bank accounts of 21 lakh Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) workers in the state. She also assured that her government would be paying dues under the Awas Yojna next, which have been pending since the past two years.
Bihar: YouTube Blocks Video Depicting Protests by Railway Job Aspirants Following Govt Orders
Brijesh Kumar, who runs 'On Duty' YouTube channel, said that he received a notification from YouTube, stating that his protest videos had been blocked on government orders. The reason cited was national security and public order concerns.
India's Labour Economy
Signal from industry
In 2021-22, as the economy rebounded, value added grew by 26.6 per cent, with output growing at 35.4 per cent. In both these years, the registered organised manufacturing sector grew at a faster pace than the unorganised sector. The industries that drove growth during 2021-22 were manufacture of basic metal, coke and refined petroleum products, pharmaceuticals, motor vehicles, and chemicals — value added by these industries grew by 34.4 per cent. Profits, which were also depressed in 2019-20, bounced back during this period.
U’khand saw the sharpest dip in workforce during Covid, says survey
Uttarakhand saw the sharpest decline (of 11 per cent) in the “total persons engaged” in manufacturing in the worst-hit pandemic year of 2020-21 as industrial units shut shop, according to the latest Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) data, released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI).
Quantity vs Quality: Long-term Trends in Job Creation in the Indian Labour Market
Employment and wage trends since the mid-1990s have seen 3 phases of growth. In the 3rd period, since 2017–18, the ‘quantity’ of employment has grown. This has been mainly of the self-employed with stagnant wages and unpaid family workers, showing a deterioration in ‘quality’ of job creation.
Women's unemployment rate at 16-month low; labour participation declines
The unemployment rate has dropped for women from 14.9 per cent in December 2023 to 11 per cent in January 2024, according to data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE). The current unemployment rate is the lowest in the 16 months since (including) October 2022. The drop in unemployment is matched by a drop in the labour participation rate which suggests that while less women in the labour force are unemployed, the proportion of working age women in the labour force has also come down.
Tailpiece
Tadoba village women want to drive tourists on tiger safaris. Men, money are the barriers
Kulsunge is among the 70 local women from buffer villages around the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve who are beneficiaries of the forest department’s Bharari scheme to empower women. As part of the initiative, officials conducted a month-long free driver training session. But eight months since its launch, the reserve has yet to see its first female safari driver.
The Gig Economy
Urban Company women protest discriminatory practices
Hyderabad: Amid a growing wave of gig workers speaking out against alleged unfair employment practices by various platforms, a large group of women partners on Monday gathered at the Madhapur office of Urban Company to raise the issue, including permanent blocking of IDs, wage theft, illegal terminations and discriminatory labour practices by the organisation.
Livelihoods
Bitter Reality Of Sugarcane Workers Of Gujarat
Sugarcane is a money-spinning crop for landowners in South Gujarat. The cutting of this crop takes place between September to April. “Ongoing indebtedness is a major feature of the working class as the workers are charged huge interest for the advance paid to them at the moment of recruitment,” said Denis Macwan who leads the union team in Surat. The mobilisation of nearly two lakh sugarcane harvesting workers remains a rare instance of organising workers in the informal sector.
Why do labourers from Adivasi communities migrate between villages?
Workers from Adivasi communities in Rajasthan migrate to the villages in Gujarat to work as agricultural labourers. But the challenges of this migration are not spoken about enough.
Changing landscape spurs decline in ginger prawn fishing
Gujarat’s Little Rann of Kutch supports two seasonal livelihoods, prawn fisheries and inland salt farming. The first of the two-part series looks at the practice of ginger prawn fishing and its significance in the biodiversity hotspot of the Little Rann of Kutch. The second part of the series will look at the problems emerging in the face of ginger prawn fishing.
When two livelihoods collide
“There was a time Agariyas and fishers coexisted peacefully. The small bunds the salt workers made would dissolve in the rain and one could see a flat Rann after the monsoon. But things are changing now,” said Katiya, referring to the expansion of the salt bunds that are impacting prawn fishing.
Why Jharkhand’s Parhaiyas Are Forced To Toil In Brick Kilns
A particularly vulnerable tribal group, the Parhaiyas are struggling to cope with water scarcity and changing climate, pushing many to distress migration.
From bird-watching to nonprofits: Van Gujjar youth forge their own path
Local alternatives such as birdwatching tourism do exist, but the intensive training required dissuades educated youth, who are pressured to start earning immediately after graduation. To be a birdwatcher, one has to train for at least one and half years. Now, working at nonprofits has emerged as a viable option for many.