In the Courts
‘Hungry Cannot Wait’: SC Sets Nov 19 Deadline for Ration Cards to Migrant Workers
The apex court granted a final opportunity to the Centre and States/UTs to comply with its directions and provide ration cards to 8 crore migrant workers by November 19, 2024.
Mere Existence Of Benchmark Disability Won't Disqualify Candidate From MBBS Course : Supreme Court
The Supreme Court on October 15 held that the mere existence of a benchmark disability is not a reason to bar a person from pursuing medical education unless there is a report by the disability assessment board that that candidate is incapacitated from studying the MBBS course.
Employment News
Minority report: Unemployment rate among religious minorities up in 2023-24
Joblessness among India’s minorities increased in 2023-24 (July-June) on a yearly basis despite an unchanged unemployment rate for the country for the first time in five years. Among all religious minorities, the unemployment rate was the highest among Sikhs, followed by Christians, and then Muslims according to data from the latest Periodic Labour Force Survey. In urban areas minority joblessness was lowest among Muslims, and highest among Christians.
Demand under rural job scheme drops for 11th straight month
Demand for work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme fell for the 11th straight month in September compared to a year earlier. This decline is attributed to strong economic activities, new job opportunities, and favorable weather conditions.
PM internship scheme moves at full throttle
Large companies such as Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, Tata Consultancy Services, ONGC and Maruti Suzuki India are joining the PM Internship Scheme, with the government likely breaching its initial target of facilitating internships to 125,000 candidates under the initiative by December 2, a senior official said.
Women in the Workforce
Nurses at Delhi’s Lok Nayak Hospital demand separate changing room for female staff members, write to Lieutenant Governor, CM
Lok Nayak Hospital Nursing Union claimed the hospital has taken no action despite National Commission for Women demanding a prompt action to make the atmosphere women friendly for nurses.
Indian venture capital firms are increasingly hiring more women
Venture capital firms like Blume Ventures, Lightspeed India, and Bertelsmann India Investments are actively increasing female representation across their teams. They believe that diverse perspectives lead to better investment decisions and sustainable business growth, with specific recruitment strategies aimed at levelling the playing field for women in the VC ecosystem.
News from States
Tejashwi slams Nitish govt for labourers' 'mass migration' from Bihar
Leader of Opposition in Bihar Assembly Tejashwi Yadav on Thursday criticised the Nitish Kumar government over the "mass migration" of labourers from Bihar. "According to the data provided by the Central government to Parliament, around 3 crore people migrate from Bihar annually, and the figure has been registered in the Labour Department's portal," his post read. "However, there are estimates that the actual number might be as high as 5 crore," RJD leader Yadav said.
Odisha government forms task force to check distress migration
The Odisha government has set up a high-level task force under Deputy Chief Minister K V Singh Deo to recommend comprehensive measures to address the issue of distress migration in the state. This task force will thoroughly examine the challenges faced by migrant workers, aiming to prevent distress migration and determine actionable solutions.
‘The Children Are Going to Work...’
A walk through Silimal village in Odisha brought home the troubling tragedy of tribal children dropping out of school and working as labour, even in other states.
Labour Demands
Samsung India workers end strike after more than a month
Around 1,500 workers in Chennai city had participated in the strike to demand better pay, working facilities and recognition of a newly-formed union. A labour activist who supported the workers told the BBC that while Samsung hadn't recognised the union yet, it had agreed to engage with the other demands. The strike was one of the largest the South Korean technology giant had seen in recent years.
On Samsung workers’ right to unionise
The realisation of their fundamental right to form a registered trade union to collectively bargain for better terms of employment is at the heart of the protests by Samsung India workers’ at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu. The necessity to form unions is obviously for voicing the demands and grievances of labour. It is therefore the obligation of the State, acting through the Registrar of Trade Unions, as the regulatory authority under the 1926 Act, to register trade unions and give individual workers their voice.
Darjeeling: Four tea gardens suspend work, owners flag game of one-upmanship by political parties
At least four operating tea gardens have declared suspension of work in Darjeeling, complaining of worsening industrial relations on the back of unrest over puja bonus. Already affected by falling yields, spiralling cost and lost market share that have rendered more than a dozen gardens closed or abandoned and the rest gasping for life, the latest blow could not have come at a worse time for the industry.
Now PGI’s resident doctors announce hunger strike
Adding woes to the PGIMER Chandigarh, which is already grappling with a contract workers protest, the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD) on Monday announced a relay hunger strike and stopping elective OPDs. The decision by the PGIMER’s residents’ union comes at a time when the institute is seeing staff shortage, cancellation of elective surgeries, and no new consultations in the outpatient departments (OPDs).
Reports
Climate change impact harsher on poorer farmers in India: FAO report
Senior FAO economist Nicholas Sitko presented the report “The unjust climate. Measuring the impacts of climate change on rural poor, women, and youth” at an event in New Delhi. The report said on-farm income sources of the rural poor in India were affected in different ways depending on the type of climate stress. In case of droughts or such events, poor households dedicated more time and resources to agricultural production to sustain themselves, as off-farm employment opportunities reduced.
Why is the climate unjust ?
FAO has produced a ground breaking report: “The unjust climate. Measuring the impacts of climate change on rural poor, women, and youth”. It shows how climate change differently affects people, especially in rural areas . The report is based on over 109,000 households in 24 countries in 5 regions of the world, and 70 years of geo-referenced rainfall and temperature data.
Policy Changes
Cabinet raises MSP of rabi crops for 2025-26
Rabi Cops MSP Increase: The Union Cabinet has approved new Minimum Support Prices for Rabi crops for the 2025-26 season. Wheat MSP is increased by Rs 150 per quintal, while mustard MSP is raised by Rs 300 per quintal. The chana MSP is increased by Rs 210 per quintal. These changes aim to provide better returns to farmers and encourage more cultivation.
Benefits for Workers
Diwali bonus of Rs 28,000 for BMC workers
Employees of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will be received a Diwali bonus of Rs 28,000...Presently, the BMC workforce is 92,000 strong. The ex-gratia amount approved this year is over 11 per cent more than the Rs 26,000 paid last year. Employees of community health centres and the teachers at Balwadis or kindergarten schools will be paid Rs 12,000, while the helpers will be paid Rs 5,000. The BMC is reportedly India’s most affluent civic body, with a budget exceeding Rs 53,000 crore.
Caste in Employment
92 % of workers cleaning urban sewers, septic tanks belong to SC, ST groups, finds Survey
In a first-of-its-kind attempt to enumerate people engaged in the hazardous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks in India’s cities and towns, government data gathered from over 3,000 urban local bodies in 29 States and Union Territories shows that 91.9% of the 38,000 workers profiled so far belong to Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST), or other backward class (OBC) communities.
Of the profiled workers, 68.9% were SC, 14.7% were OBC, 8.3% were ST, and 8% were from the general category.
Caste-based labour & limited food: Dalits recount jail horror
MEERUT/DEHRADUN: Daulat Kunwar has been imprisoned several times. Once behind bars, it was the same story each time for the Dalit activist. “Caste discrimination starts the moment an inmate steps into a prison, it is real and it has been going on for many years,” Kunwar told TOI in shocking revelations that were echoed by other prisoners, including undertrials, who spent time in the jails of UP and Uttarakhand. Now, though, Dalits in India’s jails see hope of better treatment following Supreme Court’s landmark order on Oct 3 striking down a series of “colonial-era” rules mentioned in prison manuals across the country which “reinforced caste-based division of labour, particularly targeting marginalised communities”.
The Coaching Industry
UPSC aspirants death: Delhi Court to take cognizance of chargesheet on October 29
A Delhi court on Tuesday set October 29 for further consideration of the chargesheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the deaths of three UPSC aspirants who drowned in the basement of a coaching centre in Old Rajender Nagar in July following heavy rainfall and waterlogging. The chargesheet names coaching centre CEO Abhishek Gupta, and others, accusing them of criminal conspiracy and culpable homicide not amounting to murder. ACJM Nishant Garg of the Rouse Avenue Court was informed by the CBI’s prosecutor that the investigation into possible corruption is ongoing.
Forest Workers
India’s Tiger Reserves Depend On Undertrained Workers, Home Guards
While Project Tiger has been a success in terms of boosting the population of big cats across the country, management effectiveness evaluation (MEE) reports by NTCA from 2023 and 2024 suggest that many tiger reserves are heavily dependent on home guards like the deceased Deka and casual workers like Haque, who lack “wildlife management orientation” and are irregularly paid. The home guards and casual workers employed as frontline staff of various tiger reserves earn between Rs 6,000 and Rs 9,000 per month, but salaries are often delayed. In some tiger reserves, as much as 50% of the frontline staff is comprised of home guards and casual workers.