Mining companies will have to start paying compensation to project-affected people right from the day a mining block is allocated to them and not when they start generating profits, a proposal that will further sweeten the deal for those who lose their land to industrialisation, but stoke more protest from miners. Once the project starts making profits, the displaced families will be provided an annuity income from the net income, but...

Nearly 10% of Indians are without jobs, a new study of the country's labour force has found. The study by the federal labour ministry was conducted in some 46,000 households in 28 states all over the country. It also found that over 85% of Indians had no access to social security. Various surveys have pegged India's unemployment rate between 2.8 to more than 10%. Analysts say the actual figure is much higher. They say...

Rajasthan wiling to pay enhanced wages to workers ‘Demand justified as CPI has risen to 924 points' Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has accepted in principle the demand for enhancement of the wages of workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme as per the recently revised minimum Wage Rates in the State. However, the catch is that the Centre holds the key to any hike in the job scheme...

Can the government break its own laws? That seems to be the case when it comes to minimum wages in the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), which makes the government the employer of the world’s largest workforce of close to 35 million job-card holders. In 19 states, the workers are getting less than the minimum wages in their areas, with the rural development ministry and the labour ministry looking the...

The microcredit revolution has been celebrated for helping poor women in developing countries start small businesses. By borrowing money for purchases such as a buffalo or sewing machine, the women were able to help lift their families out of poverty. But critics say the microcredit model has been perverted by commercial greed in India, with reports of abusive collection methods and sky-high interest rates. "What began as a simple, innovative model...