In the Courts
Working Journalists Act: What Allahabad High Court Held On Operation Of Industrial Disputes Act, Delegation Of Power By State Govt
The Allahabad High Court has held that 1955 Act is a special act governing the conditions of work for newspaper employees including working journalists and non-working journalists and will have overriding effect over the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947. “The Act of 1947 only supplements the cause of working journalists, but in no way it restricts in reaping the benefits provided under the Act 1955, especially under Section 17, which is a scheme of recovering of dues of an employee from its employer,” held Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal. Case Title: The Indian Express Pvt. Ltd. v. Union of India [WRIT - C No. - 292 of 2024]
HC upholds relief to kin of electrocuted contract worker
Madurai: Madras high court has confirmed the compensation of Rs 4.19 lakh awarded by the deputy commissioner of labour to family members of a Tangedco contractual employee who was electrocuted in April 2012 while attending to a repair in a transformer in Dindigul district.
Migrant Realities
A 2024 Tamil Nadu story along a highway: Migrant labour, Ukraine war, and a Jharkhand dhaba
Sadiq Khan has seen “trains full of migrants” getting down at Tiruppur to work in looms and garment factories, hotels and restaurants, and even in agriculture, of late. “Labour ko koi problem nahi hai yahan,” he says, emphasising they do not face any resentment from the local people or politicians.
Migrant Workers Struggle To Be Counted During Elections
Migrant workers from various eastern states in Ernakulam say that returning home to vote means job loss and incurring high expenses which many do not want to risk…In early 2023, the ECI sought a discussion and feedback from political parties on the multi-constituency prototype Remote Electronic Voting Machine (RVM). But in March 2023, the government informed Parliament that there was no proposal to introduce remote voting for domestic migrants.
Voting without voters: West Bengal may see migrants flocking home to vote & document citizenship status amid CAA worries
While the CAA and NRC acts are distinct, many, particularly Muslim migrants, are concerned that the two acts will be used in tandem, creating a citizenship cloud for them. This fear motivates them to return in order to exercise their voting rights, not only to document their citizenship as voters but also to influence political discourse.
Employment News
India Needs Jobs! | Reality of Unemployment Crisis | Dhruv Rathee
“Despite being the world's 5th largest economy with robust GDP and export growth, job opportunities remain scarce. We analyze why large corporations like Pepsico and Coca-Cola report high revenues but low employment creation, scrutinize political promises versus reality in job creation, and explore educational challenges including high fees and limited seats in key fields.”
Wages to workers: How MGNREGA fared in past 10 years
"The trajectory of the scheme has been marked by three key characteristics. First, its effectiveness has been influenced by budgetary allocations. Second, the technological transition, particularly the rollout of the National Mobile Monitoring System (NMMS) without proper piloting, has presented substantial challenges. The NMMS app has created hurdles for workers. Third, the trend towards centralisation of decision-making, including the identification of works to be taken up, and the lack of transparency in the process pose significant concerns."
INTERVIEW | Opposition doesn’t have any reliable data on joblessness: Nirmala Sitharaman
“What the opposition fails to understand is that there is a complete reset in our labour market. Work has been going on to expand the areas from where data on jobs can be collected. It is a fact that in India we do not have data which is reflective adequately of the labour situation on the ground. We collect data on formal employment, but formal employment doesn’t constitute a large chunk of all employment in the country. The informal sector is today widening its base, and more and more new jobs are coming there.”
Livelihoods
When women sign up as para-vets
Goatkeepers in rural areas often face the problem of disease. Diseases spread quickly in bigger herds. While the average herd size may be small, some villagers keep bigger herds of 50 to 100 goats. So protection from disease is important for those keeping goats, but medicines and vaccinations are not readily available in villages. That’s why the concept of pashu sakhis, or rural women para-vets, has evolved in Tikamgarh district and drawn much attention. Enterprising women from the rural community are trained as vets to provide protection and treatment to goats.
The Gig Economy
Insurance scheme for gig workers a non-starter
HYDERABAD: On Jan 7 when 23-year-old Sheikh Ismail was on his way to deliver groceries, a manja slit his throat and left him injured. The executive with a grocery app had had to get 40 stitches at a govt ENT hospital after multiple private hospitals turned him away. Even the govt accident insurance scheme for gig workers – announced soon after the new Cong govt came into power – was of no use. “Though I was in a govt hospital post recovery, I spent Rs 20,000 on medicine and dressings I did not get a single paisa from the scheme,” Ismail said.
Amid soaring temperatures, Telangana cab union announces 'No AC Campaign'
The campaign was launched in protest against the “declining per kilometre fares” offered by cab aggregators Ola, Uber and Rapido
This delivery app takes away health insurance when workers don’t meet quotas
Swiggy’s weekly ranking system allows workers to access health insurance depending on the number of “perfect” deliveries they make. Delivery riders say they find the system convoluted and unfair. Rest of World spoke with 40 riders for Swiggy in India. Many described losing coverage when they needed help the most.
Analysis
Analysis: The Spectre Of Unemployment Across North India
Most of the youth I interviewed across the cities of western Uttar Pradesh have little hope of finding regular employment. They believe they will end up in the informal workforce. The key question villagers whose land has been swallowed up in the Greater Noida landscape ask is what provision has the state government made to provide jobs for the villagers many of whom have `forcibly’ been made to sell their land to real estate developers.
Election Issues
Agro, Agniveer, and an Alliance: Rajasthan’s Shekhawati to Spring a Surprise?
In recent years, Amra Ram spearheaded the farmers’ agitation in the Shekhawati region and now repeatedly hammers on agrarian distress in his campaign. The Congress-Left combine is also going ballistic on the Agniveer issue that connects with countless youngsters in the Shekhawati region.
In Army coaching Ground Zero, Agnipath turns business cold, heats up poll campaign
Located in west Rajasthan, Kuchaman, which falls in the Nagaur Lok Sabha constituency, started taking shape as a coaching hub for Army candidates sometime around 2009. Soon, students were trooping in from all over Rajasthan, as well as Haryana and Western UP. At its height, over 2 lakh students were enrolled in the town’s “defence academies”, many of them staying in hostels. But things have changed post the Agnipath scheme.
Rural Ballot 2024: Bhandara’s youth: jobs not ballot is top of mind
In the first phase of India’s General Elections 2024, the parliamentary constituency of Bhandara-Gondia will vote on April 19. Unemployment and anxiety are simmering here in Shivaji Stadium, a public space where rural youth are actively training for state jobs they are desperate to secure – that comes first; poll promises are a distant second.
Jobs, Migration, Tea Garden Wages Set Trinamool-BJP fight
Unemployment, labourers leaving for Kerala and Karnataka in huge numbers, tea gardens and their wage issues are among the factors looming large as Jalpaiguri, at the foothills of Himalayas, goes to polls in the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections. The constituency is poised to witness a tough fight between the BJP and Trinamool this time.
BJP leaders’ kin involved in Assam tea garden scam, workers face bleak future: Gaurav Gogoi
Jorhat (Assam): Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi has alleged that people close to BJP, including relatives of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and central ministers, are buying bankrupt tea gardens in the state and then selling them overnight to set up different establishments on those lands. Calling it a “bigger scam” than the electoral bonds, the Deputy Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha said the tea garden workers are facing a “dark future” with thousands of them being left out of any employment opportunity if this trend continues unabated.
In Rajasthan farmer belt parallel to Punjab, anger still simmers against BJP
Once considered a safe seat for the BJP, the Ganganagar Lok Sabha constituency located in an area that routinely registers the highest summer temperatures in Rajasthan is making the party sweat. The reason is farmer anger, with Ganganagar residents active participants in the protests spearheaded by associations from neighbouring Punjab against the Centre, including one earlier this year over the MSP issue.
Worker Welfare
Centre will send heatwave advisory to states for ensuring workers' welfare
New Delhi: The Centre will soon issue an advisory to chief secretaries of all states and union territories asking them to direct industries and employers under their jurisdiction to make enough provisions for workers' welfare during heatwave days expected this summer, a senior government official told ET.
Poll Promises
Rashtriya Janata Dal's manifesto promises 1 crore jobs, Rs 1 lakh aid to poor women
The Rashtriya Janata Dal party manifesto 'Parivartan Patra' for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections says that if the INDIA bloc is voted to power, it will give jobs to one crore youths across the country. “We will fill the 30 lakh job vacancies that are already there in the country and will create 70 lakh more jobs," Tejaswi Yadav said. He said that if the INDIA bloc wins in the upcoming elections, the old pension scheme would be implemented for government employees and the Agniveer scheme of contractual employment in the Armed forces will be discontinued.
Nitin Gadkari Unveils Own Manifesto For Nagpur, Promises 1 Lakh Jobs
Nitin Gadkari's 'Vachannama' or election manifesto underlined his vision for Nagpur for the next five years if elected from the Vidarbha city, where voting will take place in the first phase on April 19, for a third term.