-Scroll.in The migrant exodus will undoubtedly hurt the economy. But that is no excuse for forced Labour. The Indian government’s policies towards its vulnerable migrant worker population were already a mess. This week, Karnataka made it worse. The Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled state decided to cancel trains that would allow working-class people from other states to return to their homes five weeks after a national lockdown to combat Covid-19 left them stranded, often without...

-The Hindu Business Line The vague legal definition of ‘worker’ sabotages inclusive and eligible delivery of welfare to all workers during the pandemic The Covid-19 health emergency has disrupted trade, mobility and livelihood in unimaginable ways. The magnitude of the crisis grows manifold when social and economic shutdowns accompany it, and the uncertainties of livelihood, wage loss and lay-offs might last longer than expected as Covid-19 has hit almost all sectors. To...

-Outlook India Vinod Kapri, an award winning film-maker, spoke to Outlook about the arduous journey of the migrants, the highs and lows of it, and what gave him the impulse to pursue their story. Vinod Kapri is a film-maker who travelled with seven migrant Labourers from Ghaziabad to Saharsa, Bihar for seven days and seven nights. The former journalist is also the writer and director of award-winning 2018 film Pihu. He spoke...

-NDTV Karnataka Lockdown: The trains to ferry migrants were started last week after much back and forth between the Centre and the states amid a countrywide exodus of Labourers. Bengaluru: Special trains from Karnataka taking home thousands of migrants stranded by the coronavirus lockdown have been cancelled by the BS Yediyurappa government, which says workers are needed for construction activities that have resumed in the state. The BJP government is forcing the...

-Newslaundry.com Any company in India wanting to do business without being disturbed needs to be in the good books of the government. In the post-Covid world, companies are looking to cut costs in order to survive. They have been doing so in various ways. Some of the popular ways in the Indian context are: 1) Cutting salaries of employees. 2) Putting any fresh recruitment on hold. 3) Putting increments on hold. 4) Putting variable payouts on...