Say there is no way the workers can be paid less than the minimum wages Open Statement on Prime Minister’s Assertion that the NREGA Wage Rate is ‘Delinked’ from the Minimum Wages Act We the undersigned are shocked at the Prime Minister’s statement in a letter to the Chairperson of the National Advisory Council that ‘statutorily the wage rate under NREGA is delinked and independent of the provisions of the Minimum...

Environment minister Jairam Ramesh tied himself in knots on Monday to defend the guidelines his ministry had issues on turning national parks and sanctuaries into inviolate critical wildlife habitats, bypassing provisions of the Forest Rights Act. Even as his statement contradicted the guidelines issued by the environment ministry on February 8, Ramesh defended them claiming that `news reports' against the fresh set of rules were `misleading'. TOI had reported how the...

Members of eight major central trade unions and independent workers'/employees' federations will march to Parliament on February 23 to protest against what they call the “indifferent and don't care attitude” of the Manmohan Singh government to the “steep rise in the prices of essential commodities, rampant violation in implementation of labour laws, plight of unorganised workers, and reckless contractorisation of employees.” The Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), trade union wing...

The chief of the army's central command surveyed Abhujmaadh forests from the air and then landed in Raipur to allay anxieties over a potential conflict escalation in the Maoist controlled forest in Chhattisgarh's Narayanpur district where the army plans to train its troops. "We will exercise maximum restraint. This is our country, they are our people," said Lieutenant General Vijay Ahluwalia, emphasising that the army would be deployed solely for the...

The Orissa government bats for it, the PMO is in favour and environment minister Jairam Ramesh has obliged, but the Rs 54,000-crore Posco project has found two difficult adversaries —the villages of Dhinkia and Gobindpur. The two villages have written to Ramesh, saying they have not agreed to the takeover of forest land for the integrated steel plant under the Forest Rights Act and complained the Act has not been implemented...