-Newsclick.in The suspension of labour laws by BJP governments promotes corporate interests at the expense, not just of workers, but the rest of society, including small businesses and petty producers. Even as millions of migrant workers are wearily trudging back to their villages with no money, no food and no shelter, or are locked up en route in shoddy quarantine camps, a war has been unleashed on the rights of workers under...

-The Hindu Business Line Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha among better performers in providing work: Rural Development Ministry data Less than half the rural households that demanded work in the last 45 days were offered work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), data on the Ministry of Rural Development website show. Data updated as on May 15 show that 2.48 crore rural households across India had demanded work in the...

-The Hindu There are clear, implementable steps the Centre can take in fiscal terms to revive the Economy and support livelihoods The Prime Minister has just announced Lockdown 4.0. Despite some resulting increase in economic activity, vast numbers of working people will remain without their regular incomes. He also announced a package of ₹20 lakh crore, but this includes already allocated money of ₹6-lakh crore and monetary policy directives to banks and...

-The Hindu On the contrary, scrapping labour laws will only reduce wages, lower earnings and reduce consumer demand Following the adage, “never waste a crisis”, the government of Uttar Pradesh, last week, introduced an ordinance that has scrapped most labour laws for three years — ostensibly for creating jobs and for attracting factories exiting China following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. These laws deal with the occupational safety, health and working...

-Newsclick.in It is noteworthy that rights of workers have been suspended despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi exhorting employers during the initial phase of the lockdown period not to cut down jobs. New Delhi: Over the past week, various states, including those ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as well as those ruled by non-BJP political parties, are being held squarely responsible for drastic suspension of labour laws in the midst of...