-The Hindu A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking its intervention to bring dignity to “India’s invisible workforce in the informal sector” — the domestic workers. The petition filed by NGO Common Cause along with social activist Aruna Roy and the National Platform for Domestic Workers, said: “Latent classism and lack of education make domestic workers prone to violence and abuse at the hands of their employers and placement...

-Newsclick.in A combination of fund squeeze and political aversion has deprived lakhs of people from getting MGNREGS work, even though wages are very low. As the job crisis rages unabated across the country, demand for work under the rural jobs guarantee programme (MGNREGS – Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) has risen dramatically in the past few years. In Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, the two big states where polling for Assembly...

-Newsclick.in Unbridled exploitation of workers under the supervision of BJP governments has led to widespread anger and discontent, which is likely to be reflected in the Assembly polls. While Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan are gearing up for Assembly elections, the two BJP-ruled states have also been at the forefront of actively overseeing the worsening  condition of industrial workers. Besides administering meagre rates of minimum wage, the two states have introduced a slew of...

-The Hindu The Indian education system would be a good place to start with reforms, says the development economist Jean Drèze is possibly the world’s most famous Belgian-Indian. He has lived in India since 1979, and is an Indian citizen. As a development economist and activist, he has helped draft some startlingly pro-people legislations, such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005, and the National Food Security Act, 2013....

-The Hindu Report concedes that farmers couldn’t buy seeds due to cash crunch. Millions of farmers in India were unable to buy seeds and fertilisers for their winter crops because of demonetisation, according to a report submitted by the Union Agriculture Ministry to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance. This official acknowledgement of the impact of demonetisation comes on a day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi, speaking at a rally in Jhabua, Madhya...