News from States
Eight BJP-led states announce job reservations, preferential hiring for Agniveers
Eight Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states on Friday announced reservations and preferential hiring for Agniveers in government jobs, police and other forces. Gujarat, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan and Arunachal Pradesh made the announcements on the 25th anniversary of India’s victory over Pakistan in the Kargil war.
APSC ex-chief gets 14-yr RI in cash-for-job scam
Guwahati: Former Assam Public Service Commission (APSC) chairman Rakesh Paul has been sentenced to 14 years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) by a special court on Monday for his involvement in a cash-for-job scam related to the employment of agricultural development officers in the Assam govt a decade ago.
Fact-finding report exposes ‘flaws’ in West Bengal eviction drive
A survey conducted across municipalities and civic bodies in West Bengal on the recent eviction drive has pointed out that neither were laws passed by the Assembly followed nor attempts made to compensate or rehabilitate hawkers and vendors. Last month, the police and civic bodies swung into action and started evicting hawkers after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said hawkers were occupying streets and people had no place to walk.
CM Stalin seeks early release of fishermen in SL
Madurai: Following the arrest of nine Tamil Nadu fishermen by the Sri Lankan navy last week chief minister M K Stalin wrote to Union external affairs minister S Jaishankar urging him to take earnest steps to secure the expeditious release of all TN fishermen detained in Sri Lanka and their boats. During this calendar year 250 fishermen have been arrested by the Sri Lankan authorities, the highest since 2014, he said.
Layoffs and Hirings
After Air India, Vistara announces VRS scheme for permanent ground staff
In a message sent to its employees, Vistara stated that all permanent ground staff, who had worked with the airline for five continuous years, can take part in the VRS scheme.
5K from govt tech institutes get job letters
Patna: Over 5,000 students from various government engineering and polytechnic colleges of the state were placed in reputed companies this year. The list included 508 woman candidates.
In the Courts
CBI Did Not Probe Thoothukudi Firing Incident Independently: Madras High Court
The Madras High Court has come down heavily on the Central Bureau of Investigation for its failure to bring to light the original culprits in the 2018 Thoothukudi Police Firing during the Anti-Sterlite protests. The bench of Justice SS Sundar and Justice N Senthilkumar said that the agency had failed miserably and the fact that the agency had named only one inspector in its charge sheet would only lead to the conclusion that the agency was not acting independently.
Supreme Court Stresses Equal Application of Regularisation Policies for Eligible Employees
In a landmark ruling on July 22, the Supreme Court emphasized the importance of equitable application of regularisation policies for eligible employees. Although daily wage employees lack a legally vested right to demand regularisation, the Court asserted that any policy decision made by a competent authority must benefit all eligible individuals equally.
Employment News
Centre likely to move ILO against its India Employment report
India, a founding member of the International Labour Organization (ILO), is likely to raise a complaint against the UN agency over its India Employment Report 2024, released in March this year. A Union Labour Ministry official said the “model” ILO had used to assess the employment scenario in India was not suitable and India has its own assessment of the situation.
ESIC records a 14% YOY increase in new employees
The Employees’ State Insurance Corp. (ESIC) welcomed 2.30 million new employees in May 2024. This marks a significant 14 per cent increase compared to the same period last year, according to provisional payroll data. The data reveals that 48% of these new enrolments were under 25 years old, and nearly 20% were women.
Reports
More workers than ever are losing the fight against heat stress
Heat is a silent killer that threatens the health and lives of a growing number of workers around the world, ILO report finds. Overall, the report indicates that workers in Africa, the Arab states and Asia and the Pacific are most often exposed to excessive heat. In these regions, 92.9 per cent, 83.6 per cent and 74.7 per cent of the workforce are affected, respectively. The figures are above the global average of 71 per cent, according to the most recent figures available (2020).
Providing Jobs
'Budget is Nondescript; Steps to Generate Jobs Barely Scratch the Surface': Pronab Sen
In a 50-minute interview to Karan Thapar for The Wire, Sen, at present the Country Director of the International Growth Centre and Chairman of the Standing Committee on Statistics and a former Chief Statistician, said neither the government’s contribution of Rs. 3,000 a month per person for two years to the employers EPFO payments nor the internship scheme are likely to lead to additional people being taken on either as full time employees or as interns.
Budget's Big Job Push: Will it Work?
Subroto Bagchi, Manish Sabharwal, Sanjiv Puri, Naushad Forbes, Nirmala Sitharaman
The Coaching Industry
Kottayam: Rubber hub scripts NEET story
Kottayam this year has 25 candidates in the top-1,000 list of the NEET exam, which was attempted by more than 2 million candidates, a success rate that’s only behind the Rajasthan towns of Sikar and Kota.
Every monsoon in the midlands of central Kerala, as rain lashes down from the hills on the Western Ghats and the sinuous Meenachil River spills over, vehicles wheeze into the idyllic countryside, offloading nearly 30,000 teenagers, mostly from Kerala and neighbouring states, who hope to crack nationwide entrance exams for medical and engineering seats at the institute.
In two congested lanes of Sikar, a growing industry
Around 400 km from Kota, another coaching factory has been growing quietly in Sikar, Rajasthan's Shekhawati town of grand havelis, forts, frescoes and pol (gates). In the recently held NEET-UG exams, which were marred by allegations of paper leaks and cheating, Sikar outdid the Rs 12,000-crore Kota assembly line, with its students emerging among the top-scorers.
Unregulated coaching institutes in Noida and Gururgram under lens
Over 300 coaching centres in Gurugram are operating without the mandatory no-objecting certificate from the fire department, fire officials said.
Govt Vacancies
Govt Job Rush: Candidates Look For Respect; They’re Also Disillusioned By Private Sector, Says Kunal Mangal
Across India, young people spend years trying to get a govt job though their quest is often futile. Kunal Mangal, who has studied the labour market effects of this competition as an academic at Harvard and Azim Premji and published multiple peer-reviewed papers, speaks to Sunday Times about ways to stop the rat race.
Over 2,000 vacant posts in three government hospitals in Delhi: Health Ministry
There are over 2,000 vacant posts for doctors, nurses and paramedical staff in three large Central government hospitals in the National Capital — Safdarjung Hospital, Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, and Lady Hardinge Medical College and Associated Hospitals, according to information provided by the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry in the Lok Sabha earlier this week.
The UPSC Industry
Month before coaching centre deaths, UPSC aspirant sent complaint to MCD: ‘Basement used illegally, possibility of major accident’
The MCD on Sunday sealed basements of 13 coaching centres in Rajinder Nagar, including that of Rau’s IAS Study Circle, and nearby areas for flouting norms. Nearly a month before three students drowned in the flooded basement of Rau’s IAS Study Circle in Old Rajinder Nagar, a complaint was filed with the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) regarding the alleged illegal use of the basement. A civil services aspirant, Kishor Singh Kushwah, filed the complaint against the coaching centre on June 26. Reminders were sent to the civic body on July 15 and July 22.
Rau’s IAS was an elite, small-batch institute. Then, competition led to rapid expansion
The basement library at Rau’s IAS Study Circle that became a death trap for three IAS aspirants only opened in August 2023—at the students’ behest. The three students who drowned on 27 July—Nevin Dalvin, Tanya Soni, and Shreya Yadav—were among many others who had gathered to study that weekend, choosing to be at Rau’s IAS library because it was free for them. It’s part of the ‘package’ that Rau’s IAS offers its students, along with classroom teaching and personalised mentorship.
Find it difficult to breathe, but can’t afford rooms above the basement’
Civil services aspirants in coaching hubs of Mukherjee Nagar, Old Rajinder Nagar say they stay in windowless, basement PGs, which get inundated after a heavy rain spell because such rooms cost half as much as rooms on the ground or upper floors.
Why small town aspirants flock to costly city
The studious atmosphere, best teachers and comprehensive study material are some of the main attractions for UPSC aspirants studying in coaching centres in Delhi, some of the students studying here said.
Common thread at Delhi coaching centres – violations galore
While local authorities and the police are on their toes to crack down on illegal coaching centres, many students face risk on a daily basis. Classrooms and libraries in basements, no fire or emergency exits, electricity meters and mangled wires too close to the building, and narrow staircases — these are some of the glaring safety violations found in many coaching centres across Delhi.