News from States
A village of coffee growers in Nagaland seeks a better market
In 2015, with the understanding that Nagaland’s soil and climatic conditions are suitable for large-scale coffee cultivation, the Nagaland Land Resources Department distributed coffee saplings to farmers across the state. What followed was a successful community-led coffee farm initiative, which is now seeking better markets for its produce.
A Pond in the Backyard
Odisha Women Secure Nutrition and Income With Fish Farming Traditionally, a pond in the backyard solved the problem of food. Marandi remembers the time when every family in the village had a small pond in their backyard. All these ponds were interlinked. When it rained, water from one pond overflowed into the other. If somebody put fish seeds in one pond, overflowing water distributed fishes across all ponds, and they became full of fish.
The Gig Economy
Women gig workers call for ‘digital strike’ on Deepavali day
The Gig and Platform Service Workers Union (GIPSWU), India’s first women-led gig workers’ union, has called for a nationwide strike on Diwali (31 October), urging gig workers across the country to switch off their phones and observe a ‘digital silence’. Through this protest, the union, formed in 2023, aims to raise awareness about the exploitation faced by gig workers, especially women. The initiative calls for collective action against unfair labour practices, including misclassification and biased ratings that lead to job insecurity.
Platforming precarity: Data narratives of workers sustaining urban platform services
Economic necessity and a lack of alternative employment is pushing workers into precarious platform work. The pathway to precarious platform work was distress-driven, borne out of low wages in previous salaried work, or a lack of alternative employment. A large proportion of workers were previously engaged in salaried employment, who then shifted to platform work, marking increased informality and precarity in their employment status. In Mumbai, over 64% of workers were in salaried employment previously, and this is also the case for over 50% of workers in Guwahati, and over 42% of workers in Delhi-NCR.
Livelihoods
News in Frames: Dark times befall Sivakasi matchbox labourers
Poor residents of Kovilpatti near Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu still depend on the manufacture of safety matches for their survival. But mechanisation of the manufacture process has caused immense loss of work to the labourers… Rise in the prices of raw materials, drop in the incentive for export, and removal of matchbox manufacturing from the list of cottage industries wreaked havoc on the struggling industry.
How the invasive water hyacinth is helping build livelihoods – with an ecological bonus
Eco-friendly enterprises are using the weed to produce home and lifestyle products. Moromi Hazowary of Kamrup district in Assam had clear aspirations – a stable life and a desire to give her son a better education. It is not a stroke of luck, but an invasive weed – water hyacinth – that is turning her hopes into reality.
Policy Changes
Centre, states to review labour code roll out at Dec meet
Last year, a study released by a government agency - V V Giri National Labour Institute- had said that the rules framed by various states and UTs under the new labour codes have "too much" divergence.
Meagre Wages
Meal costs are rising faster than earnings
The average cost of a home-cooked vegetarian thali in Maharashtra increased by 71% in the last 5 years. At the same time, the average monthly salary earned by a person through regular employment in the State increased by only 37%. While the wages of casual labourers kept pace with the rise in prices, increasing by 67% in the period, it is crucial to note that labourers were already spending a high share of their monthly wages on food.
Election Issues
Why farm distress may be less of a poll issue in Maharashtra this time
Maharashtra elections: There is no drought this time, unlike in the last two elections. But low soyabean, cotton and milk prices could still be cause for farmer disquiet.
Over 8,000 farm suicides in 5 years: Why affected families fuel support of Maratha Reservation
Between 2019 and July 31, 2024, Maharashtra reported 8,073 farm suicides, which were found eligible as per the norms of the state government.
Employment News
Chennai, Bengaluru have most internship offers under PM scheme; graduates preferred
The top five states offering the highest number of internships are also the top state economies in the country, led by Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Businesses in Chennai and Bengaluru top cities in offering internships under the PM internship scheme, followed by Gurugram and southern tech city Hyderabad, showed government data.
'We need labour': Why Germany increased the visa quota for skilled Indian professionals to 90,000
In 2014, about 27% of Germans were aged 60 and older, a figure projected to rise to 35% by 2030. Germany's recent decision to increase its annual visa quota for skilled Indian workers from 20,000 to 90,000 aims to address a labour shortage driven by an aging population.
Formal jobs slip in August; EPF additions down 15%
NEW DELHI: India's formal job market witnessed a decline in August with all three social security schemes recording a fall in new subscribers, data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) on Friday showed. New subscriptions to the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) scheme and the National Pension Scheme (NPS) hit their lowest since the start of the fiscal year,
Results of 88 HP govt jobs announced
Shimla: The Himachal Pradesh Rajya Chayan Aayog has declared the results for 88 posts across five groups of govt jobs. Eighty two of these posts were for junior office assistants of information technology.
Appointment letters in hand, 1,950 recruits thank CM for stable job through fair means
The parents of the 1,950 successful candidates who were given appointment letters by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday described their children as the hope for their households, who would bring prosperity to their families through stable jobs.
Distressed Workers
Non-completion of KYC details deprives poor people of their own money in Jharkhand
It also affects Jharkhand’s new flagship scheme Mukhyamantri Maiya Samman Yojana that offers ₹1,000 to women ahead Assembly polls in the State
Analysis
Techno feudalism takes root on the farm in India and China
The largest tech corporations have all launched initiatives in agriculture in recent years. But, among these tech giants, Microsoft is arguably the most heavily invested. The company says its ambition is to map and gather data on all of the world’s farms and to integrate them into its digital platforms. And, by “all”, Microsoft means not just all of the big industrial farms, but also all of the world’s 500 million small ones.
Skilling
Revisiting Skill Development in India
The government could identify the priority sectors for skill development in three broad categories. (i) Sectors in which India has a natural advantages or competitive edge. (ii) Sectors in which issues of caste or gender inequality are ingrained. (iii) Sectors which are currently not conducive to private or open-market interventions but which, after suitably directed government initiatives, could invite the entry of the private sector to promote better livelihoods and career growth opportunities.
Digital Exclusion
84.8 lakh workers registered under MGNREGS ‘deleted’, finds report
An analysis by Lib Tech shows that the net deletion of workers between April to September is 39.3 lakh. While 84.8 lakh workers were deleted from the programme, 45.4 lakh new workers were added. The high rate of deletions has coincided with the government’s insistence on using the Aadhar-based payment system for wage payments under the programme, the report said.
Lib Tech Report
February 2024 Data Point: Mass Jobcard Deletions in NREGA. This graph highlights the trend in worker additions and deletions in NREGA over 5 financial years.
Centre defends Aadhaar-based wage payment, says it ensures greater inclusion and efficiency
The Union Rural Development Ministry in a statement issued on Sunday (October 27, 2024) defended using the Aadhaar Based Payment System (ABPS), calling it a “major reform” that helps in better targeting, increased efficiency, reducing delays in payments, and greater inclusion by curbing leakages.
Alive pensioners marked ‘dead’, out of social security umbrella in Rajasthan
“Computer has killed me. I request you to please make me alive again.” This is the concluding sentence of Kanchan Devi’s application to the Block Development Officer (BDO) in Kishangarh, Rajasthan. In March 2022, the widow pension that she received from the Rajasthan government was abruptly discontinued. On enquiry, she was told that she has been marked “dead” in the system. In one year, 13 lakh pensioners have been ‘excluded’. Many pensioners, who are alive, have been marked dead, many others removed after being put under the category of “out of state”.
Profiles
People should get into the sanitation business
FOUR years ago, Raees Mohammad, with a PhD in English and a stint as an additional lecturer behind him, decided to return to his hometown, Kotagiri, in Tamil Nadu to get into sanitation. He was formerly known as Ravichandra Bathran. Being a Dalit, he had chosen to convert to Islam. But even after this change in identity, he wasn’t done with his family occupation of sanitation.
Exploited Workers
Millions Of Indians In The Gulf Working In Difficult, Degrading Conditions Demand Govt Intervention, Safety Net
With jobs scarce at home, millions of Indians compete for difficult, degrading and, often, deadly jobs in six Gulf countries. Unexplained deaths, life-altering injuries, debt and wage theft are common. India gets more remittances from its workers than any other country, but does little to address exploitative practices and rights abuses. A union government insurance scheme has failed. The government of Telangana recently promised the creation of a Gulf Workers Welfare Board, the first such acknowledgement of migrant distress.
Unused Welfare Funds
Nearly 50% of construction workers' welfare cess funds unutilised
Nearly half of the Rs 1.12 trillion collected by states and Union Territories (UTs) as the building and other construction workers’ welfare cess remained unutilised till March 31 this year, a Business Standard analysis has revealed. Top 3 states were Kerala (100 %), Odisha, and MP. AP's utilisation was lowest at 15.4 %.