In the Courts
Rules promoting caste bias in jails struck down by Supreme Court
“Discriminatory laws enacted before the Constitution of India came into force need to be scrutinised and done away with,” it said
‘End Authoritarian Regimes of Pre-constitution Era’: What SC Said When Ending Caste-Based Prison Work
The Supreme Court has declared that provisions relating to caste-based discriminatory practices in prison manuals are unconstitutional, and directed all states and Union Territories to revise their Prison Manuals, in a landmark judgment. The order comes on a petition filed by a journalist with The Wire, Sukanya Shantha, whose 2020 report ‘From Segregation to Labour, Manu’s Caste Law Governs the Indian Prison System‘ formed the basis of the plea.
Employment News
Workers flocking to farms: what's behind the data?
More workers now depend on agriculture as a source of employment compared with the pre-pandemic years, shows the latest Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS). What is driving workers back to the farm and what does it mean for the economy?
In poll bound Maharashtra securing a job has got harder
Unemployment in Maharashtra was at 15% in 2022, an increase from 11% a decade ago. PLFS data shows urban unemployment rose to 5.2 per cent in 2023-24, up from 4.6 per cent in 2022-23.
Express View on employment data: The elusive jobs
New survey frames urgent challenge before government -- inadequate creation of remunerative, productive job opportunities.
Farm News
Indian farmers get just one-third of the price we pay for fruits and vegetables
Indian farmers earn only about one-third of the final selling price for fruits and vegetables. Research suggests enhancing private markets, using e-NAM, and promoting farmer collectives to address this. Building cold storage and improving processing capacities are also advised. For dairy and poultry sectors, creating feed banks and promoting artificial insemination can boost productivity.
SC slams Punjab, Haryana for not penalising farmers burning stubble
The Supreme Court on Thursday hauled up the Punjab and Haryana governments for not proceeding against farmers indulging in stubble burning, a major cause for pollution and declining air standards in the Delhi-NCR region.
Haryana farmers are rethinking rice after September rain. Carrots, ginger, turmeric?
Delayed, erratic rains wreaked havoc on Haryana’s rice crops. With stubble-burning restrictions looming, many farmers are eyeing weather-resistant underground crops.
Working Conditions
‘System doesn't consider us humans’: The increasing suicides among Kerala police officers
Over the past five years, 88 police officers in Kerala have taken their own lives. Lower-ranking officers, in particular, are burdened with excessive workloads, unpredictable hours, and a lack of work-life balance, exacerbating their mental health struggles…“When we start work at 8 am, we have no idea when we'll return home — whether after 18 hours, 24 hours, or sometimes even longer,” an Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) told TNM.
Layoffs and Hirings
Samsung to cut thousand of jobs: Will layoffs impact India workforce?
Samsung is laying off workers in Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand as the company is reducing global headcount by thousands of jobs, Bloomberg reported citing people in the know. The layoffs could affect about 10% of the workforces in those markets and the numbers for each subsidiary may vary, the report added.
PricewaterhouseCoopers Fires 1,800 Employees In US In 1st Major Layoff Since 2009
The job cuts, affecting about 2.5 per cent of the US workforce, span various roles, from associates to managing directors, and include business services, audit and tax. The cuts are primarily focused on the US advisory and products and technology operations, with about half of the affected employees based offshore.
By 2025, Amazon will have 14,000 less managers
The e-commerce giant will save almost $3 billion a year by reducing managerial layers and also improve the ratio of individual contributors to managers
Labour Demands
Samsung strike | TN Minister asks workers to return to work even as cops crackdown on protest
VIDEO: Workers of a Samsung factory in Sriperumbudur near Chennai continued their protest for the 31st day on October 9, 2024, even as the police dispersed them from the protest site. Sources said that around midnight, 10 office-bearers of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions-backed Samsung workers’ union were arrested by the police at their homes amid resistance from the workers...Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu said that the government respected the workers' sentiments and had no intention of curbing their rights. He also requested that the protesting workers return to work.
At RG Kar, 48 doctors resign in support of striking juniors
At least 48 senior doctors and faculty members of the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata submitted a mass resignation letter and those at two other state-run facilities threatened a similar move on Tuesday, in support of the medics who have been observing an indefinite hunger strike since last week, demanding justice for their colleague who was raped and murdered in August. The medics said they will continue with their duties till their resignations are accepted.
Autoworkers, Boeing machinists, cannabis drivers: Labor unions are mobilizing in new and old industries alike
What do violinists, grocery store clerks, college dorm counselors, nurses, teachers, hotel housekeepers, dockworkers, TV writers, autoworkers, Amazon warehouse workers and Boeing workers in the US have in common? In the past year or so, they’ve all gone on strike,
Providing Jobs
PM Internship Scheme Secures 50,000 Opportunities for Youth from Over 130 Companies
According to sources in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, opportunities under Prime Minister's Internship scheme increased from around 16,000 on 7 October to nearly 50,000 by 9 October.
PM Internship Scheme: How much will you be paid? And how to apply?
Selected participants will receive a monthly stipend of ~4,500 from the government, with an additional ~500 provided by companies as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives
Survey: Manufacturing industries’ job growth at 12-year high in FY23
The Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) for 2022-23, released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) Monday, showed that the total number of employees in manufacturing industries increased by 7.5 per cent to 1.84 crore in 2022-23 from 1.72 crore in 2021-22.
Reports
Fairwork India Ratings 2024: Labour Standards in the Platform Economy
This report presents Fairwork’s sixth annual study of the work conditions of platform workers on digital labour platforms in India. This year, the report examines the changing nature of platform work as platforms increasingly control when and for how long workers can provide services or gigs. It also discusses the potential impact of proposed legislation for platform workers in Karnataka and Jharkhand.
Media Workers
“I continue to live as though I am in an open prison due to stringent bail conditions”: says journalist Siddique Kappan on the 4th anniversary of his arrest
Though he finally secured bail and came out of jail in January 2023, the bail conditions are so harsh that it makes it difficult for him to perform his duties as a journalist which requires a lot of travel and meeting people from different walks of life. This restricts him from earning a livelihood for himself as well as his family.
Books
Neha Dixit's book exposes the brutal underbelly of India's Informal economy
One of the consequences of reading The Many Lives of Syeda X is that referring to what is called “the informal economy” in India will always henceforth seem a wilful denial of reality. That part of the economy in Neha Dixit’s telling of many of the 50 jobs that her protagonist Syeda has worked at over a few decades is better described as a Dickensian brutalisation of a vulnerable workforce.