-The Hindu The new labour laws are a brutal attack on workers’ ability to safeguard their rights Labour law ‘reform’ has been on the table since 1991 as every government’s favourite solution for economic growth. Yet, there was no consensus between governments, political parties, workers and their trade unions, and employers, on what this meant. Unlike other political formations, the BJP has been in unqualified agreement with employers that the existing labour...
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Can the right to work be made real in India? -G Sampath
-The Hindu It can be made workable if there is political will and fiscal resources As economies around the world struggle to recover from the double whammy of a pandemic and a lockdown, unemployment is soaring. In India, the land of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), the promise of jobs and the politics of unemployment have a long history. Can a citizen demand work as a right, and...
More »NREGA didis of Kurhani -Rajendran Narayanan
-The Indian Express A collective of NREGA women activists discovers its political voice. As Jean Dreze recently observed, one of the key ideas behind NREGA was that it would serve as a platform for increasing the overall political capacities of workers. It was hoped that people would organise themselves to collectively demand work and, in the process, learn about other legal and constitutional provisions. While learning about the latter has been patchy,...
More »Ensuring occupational health and safety of mine workers
Nearly 24 fatal accidents and 47 serious accidents have happened in various coal mines of the country during this year till 31st August. Likewise, 18 fatal accidents and 13 serious accidents have taken place in non-coal mines during the same time period. The accident figures are low this year in comparison to the previous ones thanks to a lower demand for output from these mines against the backdrop of COVID-19...
More »Promise and pitfalls of new labour deal -Amir Ullah Khan
-Livemint.com * Some labour code changes are already in effect in Rajasthan and Gujarat. They offer a glimpse of what may unfold * It may be more relevant to look at the model put in place by states which went down this path several years ago: Rajasthan and Gujarat. The early indications are not very encouraging HYDERABAD: The new labour laws are meant to make doing business easier in India. Naturally, the industry...
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