-The Indian Express Data shows that this is the maximum recorded divergence between the Centre-notified MGNREGA wages and the state-notified minimum wages since 2009, when both were brought on a par for the first time. New Delhi: FOLLOWING THE lowest increase since its inception, wages being paid under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Scheme (MGNREGA) have fallen below the minimum wage in 34 of the 35 states and union territories. Data...

  Growth in rural wages not only indicates economic prosperity of the masses, it is also considered important so as to generate effective demand for goods and services, which is produced by various sectors of the economy. When money becomes available in the hands of rural workers due to government spending on programmes such as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), it generates demand for commodities. The production of commodities...

-Down to Earth Three in four Indian women not employed while the gender pay gap is 34 per cent Irrespective of employment category (casual and regular/salaried), organised or unorganised sector, and location (urban and rural), women workers in India are paid a lower wage rate, says a report by Oxfam, an international non-profit organisation. The gender pay gap was 34 per cent in India, that is, women get 34 per cent less compared...

-The Hindu The proposal, a version of which has been previously presented to the Congress and to a foundation working with other Opposition parties, has been released in a policy paper titled ‘Strengthening towns through sustainable employment’. With rising unemployment becoming a major poll issue, and several political parties proposing solutions for it in their election manifestos, a group of labour researchers have proposed a national urban job guarantee programme for small...

-The Hindu Better education is not leading to better job opportunities, marriage prospects or freedom of movement Abigail Adams, wife of the second President of the U.S. and mother of the sixth President, wrote to her husband, “If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion.” As last year’s #MeToo movement and Sabarimala protests showed, perhaps Indian women are echoing her and are...