-The Hindu ILO finds women form 60% of lowest paid wage labour, but only 15% of highest wage-earners India had among the worst levels of gender wage disparity — men earning more than women in similar jobs — with the gap exceeding 30 per cent, the Global wage Report 2016-17 released by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) revealed last week. In contrast, Singapore had among the lowest, at 3 per cent. Among major...

-The Times of India NOIDA: More than 40% of contractual workers have been laid off from Noida's garment industry in the past 40 days after demonetisation was announced. Gautam Budh Nagar district labour department and workers' associations confirmed that while many garment export and manufacturing units have started pulling down shutters, many people who work on a contractual basis have been rendered jobless. Noida has 1,800 garment manufacturing and export units. Of...

-The Hindu The unorganised manufacturing sector should be reoriented towards non-household units to provide efficiency gains. Ever since E.F. Schumacher, a British economist, published in 1973 his book Small is Beautiful, implying that small units are better in terms of performance indicators and labour absorption, several studies have endorsed the same idea and argued in favour of promoting small units. Stretching the argument a little further, it may be emphasised that small...

-PTI KENDRAPARA: With the harvesting of paddy crop drawing near, the age-old practice of 'Badalia', a system of exchanging labour services prevalent in coastal districts, is showing signs of revival in some pockets of Odisha. A small and marginal farmer like Jugal Kishore Lenka is all set to work in a fellow farmer's plot during harvesting to cut down his need for cash in the post-demonetisation scenario. Together with Sudam Sahu, a fellow...

-The Telegraph Paradip: For Jugal Kishore Lenka, a marginal farmer from Goda village in Erasama block of Jagatsinghpur district, badalia, the once popular system of exchange of labour, has come as a big relief. Cash strapped by demonetisation, he was worried about labour payments for harvesting his paddy. Now, he has entered into a badalia arrangement with fellow farmer Sudam Sahu, who is also looking for labour for paddy harvesting. They can now exchange...