It was one comment from finance minister Pranab Mukherjee that almost blunted Left's persuasive arguments for increasing the minimum wages under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme during the Question Hour in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. As Mukherjee was explaining how the scheme had increased the purchasing power of the people and said that the wage approved by the Parliament was Rs 100, Brinda Karat of CPM intervened to say...

Unlike the educated elite who go Westwards, attracted by better opportunities and a luxurious lifestyle, those who land up in West Asia as waged labourers have a much harder time: Practically no rights, hostile working environments and absolutely no support systems. Why is it that the violation of their basic rights doesn't figure at all in the national imagination? About the same time that India aired “absolute displeasure and concern” over...

With 80 per cent of the world’s people lacking adequate social protection and global inequalities growing, top United Nations officials are calling for a new era of social justice that offers basic services, decently paid jobs, and safeguards for the poor, vulnerable and marginalized. “Social justice is more than an ethical imperative; it is a foundation for national stability and global prosperity,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a message ahead of...

AEPC is keen on tapping the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. "We have written to the planning commission and the proposal is also with the textiles ministry," AEPC chairman Premal Udani said. Training in apparel making could be made part of  NREGS for which the industry could contribute Rs 50 per worker per day, initially. Once the worker is employed the industry would give an amount equivalent to the government's contribution...

Altogether 17 workers of Dungarpur district have received unemployment allowance after they were not given work under provisions of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). Since implementation of the MGNREGA in the state, this is the second such instance of unemployment allowance payment, widely seen as an assertion of the workers' right under the Act. In 2009, a lone labourer in Bhilwara was paid the allowance after...