In the Courts
Cash-for-jobs: Calcutta HC scraps all but one of 25,758 school hirings in Bengal
On Monday, the Calcutta High Court invalidated nearly all of the 25,758 appointments made by Bengal's School Service Commission (SSC) in 2016, except for one, and instructed approximately 1,600 of these appointees to repay the salaries and allowances they had received so far within four weeks, along with 12 % interest.
‘Didn’t separate grain from chaff’ — Bengal govt moves SC against Calcutta HC ruling in SSC ‘scam’
To let schools be without adequate teachers will adversely impact students & be a violation of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, the state argued.
Over 25k set to lose jobs after HC order: What Bengal teachers’ hiring scam is all about
Issues include exam manipulation, fake recommendations, and unauthorized appointments. Legal battles ensue over genuine appointees.
Childcare leave for women is a constitutional mandate: Supreme Court
The Supreme Court emphasized that denying a woman employee two-year childcare leave, in addition to the mandated 180-day maternity leave, is unconstitutional. This assertion, made by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice J B Pardiwala, arose during a case involving Shalini Dharmani, an assistant professor in a Himachal Pradesh government college.
Women in the Workforce
Companies shopping for workers floored by women
"There is a preference to hire women on assembly lines," said Lohit Bhatia, president of workforce management at leading staffing company Quess Corp. "Many automobile, EV and component makers as well as electronics and mobile manufacturers want to specifically hire women in roles that require precision work." Maruti Suzuki, MG Motor and Lumax among others are hiring an increasing number of female apprentices on the shop floor.
Labour Demands
Lok Sabha election: anganwadi workers in Delhi to boycott AAP, BJP, Congress for not meeting demands
The workers have been asking for a permanent employee status, a guaranteed minimum wage and the immediate reinstatement of those whose jobs were terminated for participating in a strike in 2022.
Endangered Workers
Staff safety on India Inc Radar in Troubled West Asia
Indian companies are closely monitoring the safety of employees in Israel, a West Asian innovation hub, amid the intensifying Israel-Iran conflict. Sun Pharma, with a presence in Israel through its subsidiary Taro Pharmaceutical, is taking steps to ensure the safety and wellbeing of its employees and their families.
Govt Vacancies
...15% of vacancies to be filled in 30 days, doctors’ retirement age may go up to 70
New Delhi: To tide over the severe manpower shortage in state hospitals and dispensaries in the city, a six-member expert committee headed by Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences chancellor Dr S K Sarin, has suggested a slew of measures, among them filling up of 15% of the vacancies within 30 days and increasing the retirement age of clinicians to 70.
Salary Growth
Top IT Firms Saw Wage Bills Rise 5.5% even as Revenue Growth Dips
IT companies' cumulative wage cost rose by Rs 18,036 crore in the fiscal year. Experts said this was due to continuity in lateral hiring in high-demand areas such as AI, machine learning, and cloud and engineering services, coupled with the salary increments, even though these are in the lower single digits.
Climate Change and Workers
Climate change creates a ‘cocktail’ of serious health hazards for 70 per cent of the world’s workers, ILO report finds
The health consequences of climate change can include cancer, cardiovascular disease, respiratory illnesses, kidney dysfunction and mental health conditions.
Key findings on climate change and occupational safety and health
VIDEO: Manal Azzi, Occupational Safety and Health Team Lead at the ILO, explains the key findings of the new ILO report, "Ensuring safety and health at work in a changing climate".
Heatwave and hot winds claim two lives in Bihar
A young man fell unconscious at the civil court in Hajipur, the district headquarters of Vaishali, on April 23, 2024. He was rushed to the government-run Sadar Hospital, where doctors declared him dead on arrival. The doctors said that it appeared he died from heatstroke. This was the first reported casualty due to heatwaves in the state this year. On April 24, 2024, Saldhar Yadav, a teacher at a middle school in Barhauna, Banka, died from heatstroke. “Yadav complained of uneasiness and collapsed soon after he arrived at school. He was a victim of sunstroke,” headteacher of the school Anirudh Pandit said.
Benefits for Workers
No Jobs, No Relief: Modi’s Legacy for Informal Workers
Findings presented by economists Jean Dreze and Reetika Khera: As the Modi government took charge in 2014, five flagship programmes had started providing solid foundations for social security in the informal sector: the public distribution system (PDS), the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), maternity benefits, social security pensions, and child nutrition schemes under ICDS and the midday-meal programme. All five have been undermined in one way or another by the NDA.
Skilling
Centres shut, funds misused, no placements — Skill India needs a refresher course
As the employment issue comes up in the ongoing Lok Sabha election campaign, India’s skills and apprenticeship programme is once again in focus. But the skill centres in Delhi are ailing with students dropping out. Lack of equipment, misuse of funds by centres, delayed implementation of PMKVY 3.0, and lack of placement support are other problems ailing the programme.
IT Workers
Google carries out fresh layoffs to reduce costs
Tech giant Google is carrying out a fresh round of layoffs in an attempt to cut costs and optimise operations across its finance division, multiple reports said on Thursday. Sources told Business Standard that the current layoffs were a part of a continuous restructuring drive that happens throughout Google, and the impact of it on India was minimal.
Google fires 28 staff after protests against cloud contract with Israel
The terminations come after the group No Tech for Apartheid on Tuesday occupied Google offices in California and New York to protest the $1.2bn contract known as Project Nimbus. Tech giant says employees engaged in ‘completely unacceptable behaviour’ during sit-ins at company offices.
Policy Changes
Upgraded National Career Service (NCS) portal to give job markets a fillip
The Centre plans to upgrade the nine-year-old National Career Service (NCS) portal to link millions of youths with prospective employers in a bid to prepare a future-ready workforce, two government officials said. The ministry of labour and employment, which is working on the upgraded version of the portal — NCS 2.0 — plans to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to make it more efficient.
Centre looks at ways to increase equity investments in MSMEs
New Delhi: The Union government is looking at ways to increase equity investments in micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) and raise financing opportunities for such small businesses, particularly in the informal sector.
Jobseekers
Jobs listed on govt portal rise 3x to 10.9 mn in FY24
Jobs listed on the government's job portal rose three-fold to 10.9 million in FY24 from 3.48 million in 2022-23, official data showed. This was the highest vacancy mobilisation by the National Career Service portal in any year since its launch in 2015.
Why we need to talk about apprentices
... and why apprenticeship has not taken off in India. Sonu is among millions who join the workforce in the country every year and have to find work in the vast informal sector without getting any skill training. He would have been better off taking up an apprenticeship programme, where he could have had classroom learning followed by on-the-job training. That would have enhanced his skills and increased his attractiveness for employers.
Lok Sabha elections: Assam's Dibrugarh welcomes infra push but awaits jobs
Most of the young residents are voicing their frustration over lack of jobs, despite the rapid infrastructure growth in and around Dibrugarh. “Only roads are being constructed here, not industries. Locals do not even get contracts these days. Like the majority of the tea plantation workers, all other jobs and contracts are going to outsiders,” says Minral Hazarika, a 30-year-old resident of Mohanbari in Dibrugarh district.
Election Issues
Indian Gulf workers: The unlikely voters parties are wooing for elections
Kerala votes today. The Gulf region, which hosts more than 2 million immigrants from Kerala, is witnessing intense physical and virtual election campaigns, with contestants from India addressing campaign meetings here to vy for their votes, and community groups launching initiatives to help expatriates fly back to India to cast their ballots. The Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre (KMCC) the biggest Indian diaspora organisation in the Gulf, has been urging its members to go home to vote.
'We're Farmers but We Can't Farm': Behind the Human-Wildlife Conflict in Wayanad
… As Rahul Gandhi returns to contest from Wayanad to face the Left Democratic Front's (LDF's) Annie Raja and the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP's) K Surendran in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, a singular issue has emerged as a flashpoint in the polls: human-wildlife conflict. This year alone, three people lost their lives in elephant attacks in Wayanad.
Lok Sabha elections 2024: Plight of tea garden workers brews in North Bengal, but parties pay little attention
Darjeeling/Alipurduars: Amidst the electioneering in the hills and foothills, little is being talked about the plight of over five lakh tea garden workers who have been fighting for minimum wages for years without success even as the tea industry struggles in the face of multiple domestic challenges and loss of export market.
Environment in elections: Tamil Nadu has voted and activists believe 2018’s Sterlite controversy will help DMK in state
Incumbent fulfilled its promise to shut down the plant, which satisfied state’s people.