Migrant Realities
How Bengaluru’s migrant workers pay with their lives for climate change and corruption
Marginalised groups suffer disproportionately as a result of extreme weather disasters because they toil outdoors or in poorly ventilated workshops and live in informal slums or labour camps without adequate shade, drainage or infrastructure.
Farm News
2 days after farmer kills self, kin say fertiliser crunch triggered suicide
Hisar: Rambhagat (34), a farmer from Jind’s Bhikhewala village who committed suicide by consuming poison in Uklana Mandi of of Hisar district due to non-availability of DAP on Wednesday was so deep in debt that he even sold his house to pay off debt, said his family on Friday.
Farm fires: 29 farmers banned from markets, fined in Yamunanagar
In a crackdown on stubble burning, the Haryana Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department in Yamunanagar has issued ‘red entries’ against 29 farmers on the Meri Fasal Mera Byora (MFMB) portal. This action bars them from selling their crops in state grain markets for allegedly burning paddy stubble to clear their fields.
Farm fire penalty doubled, farmers miffed
Farmer unions have criticised the Centre’s decision to increase penalties under the Environment Protection Act (EPA) for setting paddy stubble on fire. Sarwan Singh Pandher, leader of Sanyukt Kisan Morcha Non-Political, said that the Centre has backtracked from offering Rs 1,200 crore sought by the state to be given as compensation to farmers for stubble management.
Sleepless in mandis: Punjab farmers wait to sell stock amid tardy paddy procurement
Across villages of Punjab, farmers have been struggling to sell their produce leading to protests and blocking of roads. The slow procurement will also lead to farmers setting the stubble on fire, as it reduces the window of sowing of wheat, which has to take place before November 15 so that the wheat produce isn’t affected, according to farmers and officials.
Paddy procurement in Punjab going on smoothly, says Centre
Statement from Food Ministry comes in backdrop of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) going on protest against the delay in paddy procurement from the State.
Maharashtra Majha: WIll Soyabean Become A Major Political Issue In Maharashtra As Polls Approach?
VIDEO: Why soya bean farmers are angry: the ‘political’ crop of 2024 in Maharashtra
Caste in Employment
The Great Indian Sanitation Scam. General castes bag govt jobs, Valmikis do the work
Across India, proxy, ‘badli’, or ‘ewaj’ work is rampant in sanitation jobs. ‘They want our jobs but they don’t want to do our jobs.’ As a badli, she misses out on government pay, benefits, and security. “If I had a government job, I’d make at least Rs 20,000 a month, medical insurance, and pension. I have been forced to work for Rs 5,000 a month instead,” she added.
UP CM Adityanath calls for caste-based reservation in AMU a day after SC paved way for minority tag
‘How can an institution which runs with the taxes of Indians not give any reservation to the people of SCs, STs and OBCs,’ said the BJP leader.
In the Courts
Can’t alter rules for govt jobs midway rules Apex Court
In an important judgment pronounced on November 7, the Supreme Court ruled against the changing of recruitment rules mid-process for government jobs. The court emphasised that selection rules must be fair and align with Article 14 of the Constitution.
Women in the Workforce
Women waste pickers in India: Transforming waste management amidst challenges
In India, women waste pickers play a vital role in waste management, particularly in urban and semi-urban areas. They are part of a larger, often invisible workforce within the informal waste sector, which comprises around 1.5 million workers. Case Studies: Studies from cities like Ambikapur, Bengaluru and Tinsukia highlight the significant positive changes brought about by involving women in waste management.
Apple is building hostels for 100,000 women workers across India
Apple is investing in safe housing for 100,000 women workers across India! Foxconn is nearing completion of a massive hostel in Chennai with 18,720 rooms. A big step forward for women empowerment in tech!
News from States
Ladakh has a Job Crisis. The Administration Vacuum Makes it Worse.
Ladakh has a literacy rate of 97%, but is one of the lowest ranking territories in terms of employment opportunities. Tourism provides much of the available jobs, even as it is seasonal. Ever since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019 and the carving out of Ladakh as a union territory, the youth here are no longer eligible for government jobs in Jammu and Kashmir, which has a domicile requirement.
House session: job security bill for 1.2 lakh contract staff on agenda
A Bill ensuring job security to over 1.2 lakh contractual staff of the Haryana Government till age of superannuation will be among several legislations to be brought before the proposed three-day Haryana Vidhan Sabha session beginning November 13. Sources said the job security Bill would be brought before the Assembly to fulfil the promises made to the contractual employees by the BJP in the run-up to the October 5 Assembly poll.
UP connected 60.17 lakh rural families with employment opportunities under MNREGS
A state govt spokesperson said that in the current financial year, the state govt successfully connected 60.17 lakh rural families with employment opportunities. The Basti district secured the top spot in Uttar Pradesh for employment generatation under the MGNREGS. So far, 1,95,714 families in Basti were provided employment.
Half of Chennai’s transgenders involved in theft, violence due to lack of jobs’
CHENNAI: Half the transgenders surveyed recently in the city say they got involved in anti-social activities such as theft, robbery, and violence because of social exclusion and lack of livelihood opportunities. The Loyola Institute of Business Administration (LIBA) surveyed 535 transgenders in the city to assess their employability skills and identify barriers to employing them.
T.N. Health Department takes cancer screening to women at their workplace
To give better access to women for screening of cancer, the Health Department is taking their programmes to work sites and also encouraging women to come in for annual check-ups. It has started to reach out to women at their workplaces, including MGNREGA sites, even while health staff are finding it increasingly difficult to access women residing in apartment complexes.
Analysis
India’s real jobs problem is not unemployment. It’s the lack of quality employment
The quality of employment has gone down, even if the numbers of those employed are rising fast. This is at the core of the real jobs problem.