-Hindustan Times According to data from the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) conducted in 2017-18, workers engaged in so-called casual work – their wages were based on daily or periodic renewal of a work contract – form a quarter of the total workforce. The Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra governments on Tuesday took steps to protect the livelihoods of daily wage earners. While the Maharashtra government has urged employers to pay daily wagers...

After the outbreak of COVID-19 in China during early January this year and its dissemination globally within a few days, health experts have suggested ways to check its spread exponentially among the rest of the population. In the age of internet connectivity, work-from-home and self-isolation have been advised as solutions to ensure social distancing and avoid large-scale social gatherings. Experts have asked governments and private enterprises to keep people at...

-Livemint.com Using India’s Public Distribution System (PDS) as a case study, new research shows social transfers may reduce labour supply, but increase wages A common belief about social transfers is that they make their recipients lazy, decrease labour supply and do not reduce poverty. According to research that examines India’s largest social transfer programme, the public distribution system (PDS), social transfers indeed reduce labour supply but this increases wages and alleviates poverty. In...

-The Indian Express The daily wage rate in rural India for male workers across 25 occupations (12 agricultural and 13 non-agricultural) averaged Rs 331.29 during September, as per field data compiled by the Labour Bureau. Real rural wages growth has fallen to an all-time-low of minus 3.8% in September, further confirming the deep structural slowdown in ‘Bharat’ that is also evidenced in sluggish fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and two-wheeler sales. The daily wage...

-The Hindu While indexation of the NREGA wages is critical, lifting them to the minimum wage would help workers and the economy The government made two recent announcements at two ends of the spectrum to mitigate the economic crisis. One concerns a new indexation of NREGA wages meant to increase rural incomes. The second is a reduction in corporate tax rate. Prices of commodities increase each year, so it’s important to accurately estimate...