Migrant Realities
8 lakh migrants yet to be covered under National Food Security Act: Jharkhand activists
The delegation, which comprised development economist Jean Dreze, state convenor of Right to Food Campaign Asharfi Nand Prasad and food activist Paran Amitava, had last week met the secretary of food, public distribution and consumer affairs, Amitabh Kaushal
In the Courts
Manual scavenging | Register FIRs against Commissioners of Corporations, Municipalities and Panchayat Unions, orders Madras High Court
Currently, FIRs are being registered “by identifying a convenient scapegoat, typically a lowly employee of a contractor,” says Chief Justice’s Bench
Service As Work Charge Later Regularized Can Be Considered For Qualifying Service For Pension, Not For Computation Of Pension: Allahabad High Court
The Allahabad High Court has held that services rendered by an employee as a daily wager cannot be taken as qualifying service for pension/ calculating pension amount. It has been held that when employee was rendering services as work charge and was later regularized, period served as work charge must be counted for qualifying services for pension.
[Majithia Wage Board Recommendations] Employee's Satisfaction With Wages Not Absolute, Doesn't Preclude Them From Claiming Higher Wages: MP High Court
In a petition filed by Dainik Bhaskar challenging the order passed by the Labour Court (Hoshangabad), the Madhya Pradesh High Court has clarified that a declaration given by the employee stating that he is satisfied with the wages under Section 20(j) of Majithia Wage Board Recommendations cannot be deemed to be absolute. The employee receiving lesser wages won't be stopped from claiming higher wages.
Women in the Workforce
The Productivity Debate and Women’s Work: Careers or Family Care?
Educated women leaving the workforce hurts India’s growth. But child & family care options are lacking in the work structures we now have. We need “bridge” jobs, like part-time work, to help these women re-enter the workforce while balancing family needs, even with the trend of intensive parenting.
Labour Demands
Underpaid and unrecognised, ASHAs in Andhra Pradesh continue to fight for basic rights
Years of struggle with no quick resolution in sight has left us disillusioned with the successive governments, they say.
Brick Kiln workers join forces in Punjab’s Sangrur, demand immediate revision of minimum wages
Under the banner of Lal Jhanda Punjab Bhatha Mazdoor Union, a large number of brick kiln workers today out a protest march in the city from local Banasar Bagh to the district administrative complex (DC office), raising slogans in support of their demands. They were protesting against non-revision of their wages since 2012. Besides, they also protested against non-issuance of notification by the state government for the implementation of minimum wages from March 2024.
Research
What The BJP Promised But Failed To Deliver To India’s Farmers
A civil society initiative of social science researchers and volunteers has analysed 33 promises related to the farm sector in the Bharatiya Janata Party’s 2019 election manifesto. It found a series of non-starter schemes, much lower investments towards improving farm productivity than promised, and inadequate coverage by welfare schemes such as the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana.
Analysis
#Election2024: Rural Jobs Programme Remains Underfunded Despite High Demand
A majority of the participants in MGNREGS’s demand-driven work are women. As millions of workers returned to the safety of their homes following the lockdown, the number of people demanding work under MGNREGS swelled to a record 133 million in 2020-21. Yet every year In Modi's 2nd term, MGNREGS got less money than the previous year's revised estimate.
Media Workers
Crossing The Line: 18th Lok Sabha Elections and Free Speech In India
Since January 2024 at least 34 journalists were among the 46 citizens attacked across the country, including senior Marathi editor Nikhil Wagle, who was chased on February 9, 2024 by a murderous mob when he was on his way to a public meeting in Pune. Of the five journalists arrested since the beginning of this year, three were granted bail, while two continue to be in custody. Lawfare continued to be deployed to target journalists, opposition politicians and YouTubers.
Layoffs and Hirings
Top IT companies cut 72,000 jobs in FY 24
The top six information technology services companies in India reported a reduction in their total headcount in the last fiscal year, with only HCLTech adding employees. Factors contributing to this reduction include the economic slowdown, automation, restructuring, and decreased discretionary spending. However TCS, HCL and TechM aim to cumulatively hire around 56000 freshers in FY 25
Tesla to lay off more than 10% of its staff
Tesla plans to lay off over 10% of its workforce, as reported by Electrek, referencing an internal memo. The company, with over 140,000 employees globally, has not commented. The move follows a decline in vehicle deliveries and the abandonment of plans for an affordable EV, leading to a dip in premarket trading.
Benefits for Workers
Pension plan for unorganised sector sees only 5 mn subscribers in 5 years
The government’s flagship pension scheme for unorganised sector workers — Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maandhan (PMSYM) yojana — saw just over 5 million subscribers since its inception in March 2019. This has raised questions on the viability and effectiveness of the scheme in providing social security to millions of unorganised sector workers. Data collected from the Maandhan portal shows that the pension scheme crossed the 5-million subscriber mark in April 2024.
Skilling
700 inmates get jobs in hotel industry, 1200 more to get employed soon: Tihar prisons chief
Replying to a question on jail reforms during his tenure in Tihar, Director General (prisons) Sanjay Baniwal said, "We have started skill development programme with the help of Urban Development Ministry inside the prisons. Under this programme, around 700 inmates have got jobs in the hotel industry and 1,200 are getting training to get the job in hospitals."
Providing Jobs
Next government will need a rethink on job creation
The BJP faces electoral challenges due to joblessness, contrasting with Congress's detailed employment plan in India's political landscape. Economic growth hasn't translated into sufficient jobs, especially in the unorganised sector, amid sectoral shocks and increasing automation.
Domestic Workers
Faced physical assault, caste-based prejudice, says domestic worker in Delhi; FIR lodged
A 40-year-old domestic help working in south-west Delhi has accused her employer of verbal abuse, physical assault as well as caste-based discrimination. A case has been registered under Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 342 (wrongful confinement), and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code, said DCP (South West) Rohit Meena. A senior officer said if the victim wants to add allegations of caste-based discrimination to the FIR, the police will probe the charges and, based on the investigation, add relevant sections of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Election Issues
VIDEO: No Water or Jobs! What to do with Free Sarees?': Why Palghar Tribals Returned Freebies
In Maharashtra's Palghar, scores of tribal women marched to the tehesildar's offices to return free sarees and bags with government ads and PM Modi's photo. The message that they wanted to give was clear don't give us freebies, give us jobs, water supply, and better healthcare. A few days before the elections were announced and the MCC kicked in on 16 March, people across several villages received such bags and sarees at the local ration outlets while they went to avail the free foodgrains under the Centre's PMGKAY scheme.
Odisha: CM Patnaik Likely to Represent Huge Migrant Labour Force in Kantabanji as MLA
The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) supremo has decided to contest for the Assembly seat of Kantabanji in Bolangir district, a place that still reels under the stigma of poverty and hunger deaths…The issue of employment remains paramount in the area, igniting hopes for a check on migration into neighbouring states, where labourers are allegedly facing untold miseries and frustration.
Jobs, better amenities weigh heavy on working class voters’ minds
Lucknow voters demand enhanced job opportunities, civic amenities, and income equality. Focus on socio-economic advancement, gender neutrality, and safe public spaces. Challenges include urban poor housing and women's safety.
Why Mamata’s TMC has a keen eye on West Bengal’s migrant workforce this Lok Sabha election
The ruling TMC, which has often been accused by opposition parties of driving youth out of Bengal in search of jobs, has made migrant workers who are originally from the state one of its key focal points this election season. During her Red Road address to the public on the occasion of Eid last week, Mamata requested Bengal migrants to come back and vote. “We have come to power with your blessings. We would urge you to call your migrant relatives to come back to the state and vote,” she said.
‘They built the Ram temple. That is bigger than providing jobs.’
This Mumbai security guard works 18 hours a day to earn what he did five years ago, but does not blame the Modi government for his difficult life.
Mobilising Workers
Chattanooga VW worker: “This will change what people think is possible.”
Fresh off of the United Auto Workers’ blowout unionization victory at the Chattanooga, Tennessee, Volkswagen plant, we spoke to a VW worker there about why the drive won and where the UAW goes from here.