-Scroll.in Ashwini Vaishnaw based his remarks on EPFO data, which experts say does not present a true picture since a bulk of the employment in the country is informal. Union Minister for Railways, Communications, Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw on November 24 used the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation, or EPFO, payroll statistics to claim that an average of about 15-16 lakh jobs are being generated by the Union government every month....

-The Telegraph State had reported only 1,753 cases and three deaths to National Center for Vector Borne Diseases Control till June Calcutta: The Bengal government is not releasing figures on dengue deaths or the exact area-wise demarcation of zones reporting the maximum number of cases, ostensibly to avoid panic. However, several public health experts contested the purported justification, saying clear communication would be far better to fight a public health scare than the...

-Newsclick.in The initiatives by Odisha and Rajasthan governments have prompted political leaders from other states to raise demands for similar action from their state governments. Kolkata: The recent decisions by two state governments – Odisha and Rajasthan – abolishing contractual engagement of people for government jobs have come as a morale booster for trade unions. The unions have been agitating for several years demanding contract workers' regularisation. The General Administration and Public...

-Down to Earth The employment scheme worked as a lifeline for rural Indian households during the COVID-19 pandemic Lack of awareness and complexity of application process hold women back from applying for work under the central government’s Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), according to a recent report. Women beneficiaries struggled to enrol in the scheme, the report suggested. Most of them found enrolling for work a complex and time-consuming process....

-ThePrint.in Free movement of unproductive cattle prone to infections has proven to be a severe challenge in restricting the viral disease and contributed most to mortality load, say experts. New Delhi: Over the past few years, the rising population of stray cattle has been a menace to farmers. In several states in northern India, farmers regularly guard their fields at night and spend thousands on fencing to protect their crops. But the impact...