Women in the Workforce
Fifteen Years After Launch, ASHAs’ Struggle With Healthcare Gaps
Women who work as ASHAs are still considered volunteers and not paid salaries, even as the healthcare needs of the communities they serve increase. Her job, as per the guidelines of the National Health Mission (NHM), only required her to refer the patient and to escort her to the location of the procedure. In actual practice, in addition to struggling to find facilities that are willing to admit the people she refers, the frontline worker has to spend considerable money on transport and treatment out of her pocket, both for herself and the people she serves.
Why a health crisis is brewing among the labourers of Assam’s tea gardens
The most significant blind spot in Assam’s maternal health is the neglect of women working in its tea estates – 803 spread across 27 districts – that report a disproportionately high number of maternal deaths, IndiaSpend reported in June 2019. We had reported in April 2017 that in the tea gardens of Assam, anaemia among women was almost universal.
News from States
Karnataka govt. mandates 33% reservation for women in all outsourced jobs
It applies to outsourced jobs lasting more than 45 days and employing over 20 people.
HC cancels all OBC certificates issued in Bengal after 2010; CM Mamata says 'I won't accept the order'
Detailing the process in which the West Bengal government acted while adding new classes of OBC, the court observed, "Records would reveal that on or about 8th February, 2010 it was published on all leading newspapers that the government has announced 10% reservation for Muslim community. Within a period of 6 months thereafter, the commission recommended 42 classes as OBC, out of which 41 communities belonged to Muslim religion."
Non-teaching staff of 3 govt varsities in Punjab will continue to get benefit of secretariat pay: HC
In an order that will benefit thousands of non-teaching employees in three government universities in Punjab, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has set aside the 2019 orders by the Punjab Government and the Department of Finance, withdrawing the secretariat pay granted to the employees of these universities. It said “The State Government has no jurisdiction to interfere in the day-to-day working of the university once the syndicate has taken the decision to grant parity to its employees with that of employees of the Punjab Civil Secretariat.”
Employment News
38 pc IITians from class of 2024 yet to be placed: RTI. That’s 7000+ IIT students
The class of 2024 has had a rough start to their professional careers. Around 38% IITians across all 23 campuses are yet to be placed, shows responses to RTI applications filed by IIT Kanpur alumnus Dheeraj Singh.
Share of women in urban salaried jobs at 6-year low in Q4FY24: PLFS
The share of women employed in regular salaried jobs in urban India hit a fresh low in the January-March quarter (Q4) of 2023-24 (FY24). In the same period, the share of women engaged in self-employment went up. An analysis of the latest quarterly Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) data showed the share of women in regular wage work among all employed women stood at 52.3 per cent in Q4FY24, down from 53 per cent in the previous quarter.
Tamil Nadu govt. releases ₹1,229 crore for MGNREGS for 2024-25
The Tamil Nadu government recently accorded sanction to release ₹1,229 crore for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) for 2024-25. While ₹921 crore is the 75% share from the Central assistance for this programme (material component), ₹307 crore is the 25% share of the State government for the same for 2024-25, according to a G.O. issued in this regard. The Government of India had earlier this year increased the wages under MGNREGS by ₹25 per worker a day.
Benefits for Workers
An IIT-Bombay Gardener’s Suicide Reveals The Spread Of Labour Practices Designed To Deny Indian Workers Their Rights
Retired by IIT-Bombay in 2019, Raman Garase ended his life on 2 May, drawing attention to a landmark legal struggle by contract workers at the premier institute to get gratuity payments. His death is a reflection of a growing informalisation of labour across India, including in the public sector—where informal labour has risen 23 percentage points over a decade to 2023—which keeps contract labourers on the margins of employment, making them serve for years at low wages, curtailing their legally mandated employment and post-retirement benefits.
Payment Of Gratuity Act Applicable To Anganwadi Workers And Helpers: Tripura High Court
The Tripura High Court recently held that the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 is applicable to the Anganwadi Workers and Anganwadi Helpers working in the State. In this context, the single judge bench of Justice S. Datta Purkayastha quashed the memorandum dated August 11, 2023 issued by the State's Social Welfare & Social Education Department to the extent that the claim of gratuity was denied to certain Anganwadi Workers (AWWs) and Anganwadi Helpers (AWHs) engaged under Intensive Child Development Services Scheme (ICDS scheme) at different Anganwadi centres in Tripura.
Kerala HC rules 'employees' cannot claim better terms of gratuity as a right
The Court said this after looking into whether retired employees of state-owned Kerala Minerals and Metals Ltd ( KMML) were entitled to get the benefit of the amendment which increased the ceiling limit from Rs 3.5 lakh to Rs10 lakh.
Why worker housing is the key to unlocking India’s manufacturing ambitions
The key to unlocking India’s manufacturing prowess lies not only in setting the right policies but also in the empowerment of its workforce. One way to enable this empowerment is through safe, on-premises or factory-adjacent workers’ accommodation. This will range from housing for managers and supervisory personnel to dormitories for entry-level workers. It has the power to address other aspects related to skilling, productivity, and attrition as well.
Tailpiece
VIB: Very ineligible bachelors
Untold election story: young, jobless men from land-owning families who can’t get married, in Maharashtra & elsewhere. How they’re voting is interesting, what they mean for India is troubling. They describe themselves as “sushikshit, berozgaar and avivahit (educated, jobless and unmarried)”.
Election Issues
Demands unmet by BJP govt., farmer, worker and sarpanch unions back Opposition candidates in Haryana
Support not restricted to Congress, the main Opposition party; farmer leader bats for INLD’s Abhay Chautala in Kurukshetra and BSP candidate in Karnal, asks district units to extend support to candidates of their choice to ensure the BJP’s defeat
Damu Nagar will be voting for democracy
While every corner of Mumbai gets linked to the Metro and the expressways, residents of Damu Nagar struggle with a much shorter commute – but a far more difficult connection. That is: accessing the field where they still have to defecate in the open. They have to, as residents point out, step over a one-foot wall, then walk through a pile of garbage with a strong smell of faecal matter in the air. It’s an open field with dry grass, and maybe the few trees here provide a little shade for some privacy? For the residents of Damu Nagar slum in the Mumbai North parliamentary constituency, many of them first or second generation rural migrants, this is an issue that outlasts elections in this constituency.
Inflation, joblessness force BJP supporters to question their choice in eastern U.P.
Voters say the Narendra Modi government had only done enough to prevent them from sinking into complete destitution, but fell far short of the aspirations built around the PM’s two terms
Our track record in creating jobs better than previous govts: PM Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said his government's track record in creating job opportunities for youth is best compared to previous governments, as support to emerging sectors like space, semiconductor manufacturing and EVs as well as aid to startups, substantial spend on infrastructure and PLI schemes helped create more employment.
Jobseekers
Dire need for better jobs at home, say Indians rescued from cryptocurrency scam work in Cambodia
Around 250 from India were repatriated after they were lured into fraudulent employment. Sahu was one of the 250 Indians recently rescued and repatriated over several months by the government after they were lured into fraudulent employment in Cambodia. Online job scams targeting desperate jobseekers have been on the rise in India, labour and cybersecurity experts say.
Analysis
MGNREGS needs an overhaul. Sharing fiscal burden with states is not enough
Existing projects that are to be implemented by the states under their budgets should not be financed through MGNREGS outlays. Now, the lack of monitoring can result in such use.
Mental Health is a Workplace Issue
Risks to mental health in the workplace, include skill mismatch, excessive workload or work pace, understaffing, long, unsocial, or inflexible hours, unsafe or poor physical working conditions and violence, harassment, or bullying. The social stigma, discrimination and exclusion that continues to be attached to mental illness, leads to non-reporting and under-reporting of cases which remains a key hurdle in identifying and addressing the epidemic that is spreading across employments.
Outdoor Workers
Cops, labourers, delivery agents: Those under Delhi’s scorching sun in a fix
While staying indoors, away from the elements, may be an option for many of us, a large number of people from different walks of life are forced to stay outdoors during the day, their jobs requiring them to brave the hot summer sun. Profiling how cops, rickshaw pullers, construction workers cope.
Disability Issues
Can job norms be eased for disabled? SC to study
Can relaxation in cut-off marks be extended to differently-abled persons, as given to SC/ST candidates, in entrance exams to fill up posts reserved for them? Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to examine the legal issue and directed that people suffering from disabilities who had appeared for the final examination for Madhya Pradesh judicial services be allowed to appear for the interview if they had secured minimum marks as provided for SC/ST candidates.