-Newsclick.in MGNREGA workers in West Bengal have not been paid wages since December 26, 2021, which is a violation of their fundamental rights, the Morcha said. New Delhi: The NREGA Sangarsh Morcha on Monday marked one year of the Centre withholding the release of over Rs 7,500 crore of MGNREGA funds to West Bengal as protest demonstrations took place across the state. MGNREGA workers in the state have not been paid wages since...

-Press release by NREGA Sangharsh Morcha dated December 26, 2022 * Centre withheld over Rs. 7,500 cr funds, Rs. 2,744 cr due to NREGA workers * Centre hasn’t sanctioned labour budget for 2022-23 * Loss of around Rs. 3,891-Rs. 6,046 crores of NREGA wages this FY due to stoppage of work * Average days of work for the current year dropped to meagre 23 from 63.46 days (pre-covid) and 49.96 days (post-covid) Victimisation of workers: MGNREGA...

- Deccan Herald Covid-19 reverse migration of labour added to joblessness A rise in self-employment and unpaid family labour three years into the Covid-19 pandemic even as wage rates fell is an indication that rural distress has risen, the economist Santosh Mehrotra writes. Economic distress was on an upward trajectory even before the Pandemic and the sudden arrival of millions of reverse migrants in 2020 added to the stock of unemployed people...

-The Hindu With the Rajya Sabha Standing Committee on Health expressing concern over the high cost of cancer treatment, the Government invoking Section 100 of the Patents Act is a way forward The subject of the spiralling costs of cancer medicines and their implications that have frequently been highlighted the world over were dwelled on in a recent report (“Cancer Care Plan and Management”) by the Rajya Sabha’s Standing Committee on Health....

-TheWire.in In India’s growth trajectory, for over a decade, domestic private investment levels have remained consistently low and so has (domestic) manufacturing growth.  As per recent quarterly estimates, India’s growth rate slowed to 6.3% in the September quarter of 2022-23. There is evidence of a notable contraction in output of manufacturing that’s pulling down growth. This author has previously argued that quarterly growth estimates may not reveal the real state of an economy....