-Press released by Lok Samvad Sansthan (Jaipur), Rupayan Sansthan (Jodhpur) and All India Media Conference (AIMC), dated August 2nd, 2020 Jaipur: A two-day virtual streaming of infotainment educational event for ‘Safeguarding the Intangible Cultural Heritage and Diverse Cultural Traditions of India’ will be held through a webinar during August 9-10, 2020 from the desert museum of Arna Jharna, Jodhpur. Please click here to register yourself for the webinar/ event. On the occasion...

Although social activists and concerned economists demanded at least Rs. 1 lakh crore to be earmarked in favour of the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), the Finance Minister in her budget speech on 1st February allocated only Rs.61,500 crore to it for the financial year 2020-21. As compared to the fund spent on MGNREGA in 2019-20 (i.e. revised estimate of Rs.71,001.81 crore), the amount set aside for the...

-Newsclick.in The survey by the Domestic Workers Sector Skill Council (DWSSC) also stated that they are facing discrimination and stigma as employers doubt them of being carriers of the virus. The nationwide lockdown, announced to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, has exposed the dishonorable condition of informal workers, especially in cities. The conditions of domestic workers- most of them women- have further been deplorable. A survey by the Domestic Workers Sector Skill Council (DWSSC)...

-The Indian Express MGNREGA is not the best instrument to help MSMEs in urban and rural areas. Mixing up its objectives can only lead to chaos with no value addition Newspaper reports suggest that a Group of Ministers (GoM) on employment, whose report is not yet available in the public domain, has made draft recommendations including some on MGNREGA. Their suggestions include merging MGNREGA with Skill Development programmes and using its funds...

-The Indian Express The draft proposes that the land pooling model which is used in building greenfield airports can be used in agriculture to enable corporatisation, which will create demand for skilled labourers. A LAND pooling model enabling corporatisation of agriculture, opening up EPF and ESIC for the unorganised sector, merging the MNREGA with Skill Development programmes to create a wage subsidy programme —- these are some of the proposals that have...