In a move that brings relief to the rural workforce, but risks creating an inflation spiral, the government on Thursday revised the minimum wages paid for its flagship job guarantee scheme by linking them to the Consumer Price Index for agricultural labour (CPI-AL) for each individual state. Such a price spiral, in case it actually emerges, could roil the electoral prospects of the Congress in the key contests to the state...
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WB: Buddha says child labour cannot be banned by Priyanka Gupta
West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya has courted another controversy by remarking on child labour. "We can't ask them to stop work because that will affect their families' source of income." The West Bengal Chief Minister is courting controversy with a statement saying it is not practical to ask children to stop working - this four years after child labour was officially banned across India. The best that can be done he...
More »Food retail: Next large opportunity for country wide biz
Organized retail of packed food and raw food reduces prices of food for urban citizens and pays farmers a better price for the agricultural produce. It eliminates middle men and decision making at every other level. This is not rocket science. However, politicians refuse to do away with the WWII public distribution system in order to retain power at the district level. Well, for one thing, the format of the...
More »Labour shortage hits jute mills in West Bengal by Jayajit Dash
After sugar mills in Uttar Pradesh, it’s now the turn of jute mills in West Bengal to reel under shortage of labour. This has forced many jute mills to reduce their production hours and go for production cuts. The 52 working jute mills in West Bengal employ around 400,000 workers and the labour shortfall is about 30 per cent. “The workers are more interested in getting engaged in different government schemes like...
More »Unlocking the potential of rural unorganized sector
When we talk of India's mammoth work force, be it in rural or urban scenarios, what comes to mind is the 'unorganised' sector. They form the multitudes that do not 'belong' to a sector governed by a slew of measures in accordance with labour laws or employment terms defined by policy measures. These are the multitudes, which fall outside the ambit of Central Government legislation pertaining to wages and salaries....
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