The Gig Economy
Maharashtra: Gig workers decry lack of consideration in party election manifestos
Gig workers in the state are demanding better working conditions, social security benefits, and recognition of their rights as workers. This oversight is particularly worrisome given the growing number of gig workers in Maharashtra.
Uber rolls out incentives, new features to make drivers' experience 'safer'
Uber India unveiled new safety features for its drivers, including SOS integration, helmet selfies, and a preference option for women riders to choose female drivers. The company also announced incentives for drivers who register on the e-Shram portal, supporting the government's initiative for gig worker security.
Migrant Realities
As Centre-State Row Suspends Rural-Jobs Scheme In West Bengal For 3 Years, Thousands Migrate In Search Of Work
Wages from this non-agricultural labour would help pay outstanding debts and perhaps allow some tiny treats for children of labourers during the Durga Puja festivities. Now, she said, “we are sitting at home idle while our husbands are away in unknown distant lands trying to make some money”.
Odisha: Is Task Force to Check Distress Migration in Bolangir a Gold Filling to Hide Decay?
The biggest scar on the face of Western Odisha has remained the pain of migration of villagers from several districts, especially from Bolangir district, which remains the focal point of the rot. In October 2024, the Odisha government formed a 20-member task force to address the issue of distress migration from the state. The task force is led by Deputy Chief Minister and Agriculture and Farmers' Empowerment Minister KV Singh Deo.
Skilling
From fellowship to rural startup
The 13-month fellowship programme is an initiative of the SBI Foundation, the State Bank of India’s CSR wing. To be eligible, candidates have to be between 21 and 32 years of age. They could be young working professionals or fresh graduates. Apart from citizens of India, Overseas Citizens of India can also apply as well as citizens of Nepal and Bhutan.
Women in the Workforce
It’s not social constraints or access anymore — women are held back by lack of employment opportunities
Of the four key areas that define women’s empowerment, personal efficacy, power in intra-household negotiations, societal engagement, and access to income-generating activities, we see improvements in the first three domains. In contrast, the fourth — access to employment — has stagnated
TCS employee termination after sexual-harassment complaint sparks debate
In a case raising significant workplace concerns, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) recently terminated a woman employee who had filed a sexual harassment complaint against her manager five years ago…Her going public to media and labour unions was deemed to have violated company policy…She has challenged both her termination and the labour court’s ruling, which had earlier favoured TCS in the sexual harassment case. She has taken her appeal to the Madras High Court, which has granted an interim stay on further proceedings.
In the middle of death, life
The author meets a woman who has a job like few others. Doms form a caste category and their generational profession has been cremating the dead. But “dom” is now used as a job description for those employed at crematoriums. Tumpa is a dom by profession, keeper of the Purandarpur Math Jora Mandir Crematorium in South 24-Parganas, which is 25 kilometres from Calcutta.
Media Workers
‘Criminalised For Simply Doing My Job.’ Disturbed But Determined, Kashmiri Reporter After 910 Days In Jail
Journalist Sajad Gul stayed in prison for 2.5 years despite courts twice granting bail and quashing a draconian preventive detention law that the Jammu and Kashmir government used against him—after he reported a story on the shooting of a young man by security forces and the family’s allegation that it was an extrajudicial killing. In his first interview after release in July 2024, he tells us of his despair while incarcerated in four prisons, how he believes an example has been made of him to cow others, and his desire to continue journalism despite the risks.
Dying at Work
Mumbai: 32-Year-Old TV Show Set Worker Electrocuted At Film City, FIR Filed Against Contractor
A 32-year-old worker was electrocuted on the sets of a popular TV show at Film City in Aarey Colony on Friday. The deceased has been identified as Dilip Mandal. The Aarey Colony police registered an FIR against the electrical contractor for allegedly causing death due to negligence.
News from States
Internet clampdowns, uncertainty put an end to Manipur’s promising start up scene
Many emerging enterprises have been forced into survival mode after connectivity blackouts totalling 212 days and with the state’s economy in free fall. In 2021 and 2022, Manipur registered 33 and 31 startups, respectively – a higher number than most other North East Indian states, according to government data. The actual number, however, is much higher, workers at Manipur startups told Rest of World.
At 32%, joblessness rate highest in J&K in July-Sept, Delhi lowest
NEW DELHI: Jammu & Kashmir recorded the highest unemployment rate of 32% among jobseekers in the 15-29 age group in urban areas, followed by Odisha at 30.4%, according to the latest quarterly Periodic Labour Force Survey.
HC asks Delhi govt to streamline payment of salaries to staff of one-stop centres
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday asked the Delhi government’s revenue department to take steps to streamline and pay outstanding salaries of staff working at one-stop centres and take action against delinquent officials. The one-stop centres (OSCs) are designed to support women affected by violence in the city. The court was informed that the staff working at the OSC in the East district have not been paid salaries since last year, while those in West, North and South districts have not got their dues for the past several months.
Election Issues
Financial bonus, soil-health cards, grievance redressal: how Haryana is setting a benchmark for other states
The state government’s back-to-back decisions to placate farmers is being seen as a strategic move of the ruling BJP to woo the rural population in poll-bound states of Jharkhand and Maharashtra.
Advent of AI
How Infosys uses AI to upskill a workforce of 300,000+
By embedding AI into its learning ecosystem, Infosys equips employees with the skills to thrive in a rapidly transforming world. “To address the unique learning needs of each employee, we’ve embedded artificial intelligence and machine learning into our internal training platform.”
Livelihoods
Anti-pollution steps push daily wage workers into livelihood crisis
New Delhi, Nov 19 (PTI) As authorities in the Delhi-NCR impose restrictions to combat the worsening air quality in the region, the brunt of the anti-pollution measures is being faced by daily wage workers involved in construction activities whose lives have come to a standstill. Workers who depend on daily earnings to survive said they are worried their children will starve to death. Construction and demolition activities are banned under the current GRAP-IV measures that came into effect after many parts of Delhi reported "severe-plus" air quality (Air Quality Index above 450).
Jobs for Kin
After exam for jobs in UP House, a fifth go to VVIP kin: Ex-Speaker staff, kids of Principal Secretaries
Allahabad HC says ‘not less than scam...hundreds illegally recruited’; then Speaker says ‘I have no role’; SC stays CBI probe, will hear matter Jan 2025.
Job scam in Uttar Pradesh: Corruption and a betrayal
A minister’s nephew; the son of the Legislative Council secretariat-in-charge; the son and daughter of the Department of Parliamentary Affairs-in-charge; the son of a Deputy Lokayukta. These are some of the candidates who were selected to fill administrative positions in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly and Legislative Council after at least two rounds of tests in 2020-21.
UP, WB, Goa in job 'scam' rows: States that have failed their citizens
At least two employment-related scams have made headlines in India this week, adding to the growing list of such cases amounting to billions of rupees. While some of these cases are being heard in the courts for some time now, others have only recently come to light. The two most notable allegations have emerged from Uttar Pradesh and Goa, with the situation in Uttar Pradesh being of particular concern.
Violence against Workers
Doctors without safety. Chennai knife attack on oncologist renews call for central law
According to an IMA report, doctors attacked report facing insomnia, depression, anxiety, and an inability to see their patients without any fear of violence. From Chennai to Indore and Jharkhand to Delhi, India is increasingly witnessing horrifying tales of attacks on its healthcare professionals, particularly doctors. Twenty-six states have laws that make the offence non-bailable but the medical community is not satisfied and wants the Narendra Modi government to urgently pass a long pending overarching central legislation that promises them complete safety.
Separate central law to deal with offences against healthcare professionals not needed: National Task Force
The NTF was constituted by the Supreme Court on August 20 to formulate a protocol for ensuring safety and security of medical professionals in wake of the rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata.