A working group on NREGA asks for indexing wages to the farm wage index, besides reducing work hours. Justice often comes with a price. If workers of the country's only largescale wage employment programme are to be ensured a decent minimum wage for 100 days every year, it is sure to make many others wince. For, low wages mean more production, cheaper stuff, and so on. The supporters of low wages also...
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Battle royal over Bt cotton royalty by Latha Jishnu
Monsanto licencees have earned over Rs 1,500 crore since 2002. A quiet but determined battle is being fought in the courts, and outside, by US agricultural biotech giant Monsanto, its Indian affiliates and seed lobbyists to free the prices of genetically modified Bt cotton from state government control. At stake is huge business running into several thousand crore of rupees, with royalty alone on the Bt cotton seeds grossing over Rs...
More »“Seeing us, others will follow” by P Sainath
Getting 55 weddings done in 90 minutes flat won't rank as a record. Getting them done at no cost to the very poor families involved might qualify as one. That these are actually part of a successful Maharashtra government programme surely sets this up for a Guinness Book entry. The 55 couples in Nandura tehsil of Buldhana district are all Muslims. And there's a dual minority angle to it —...
More »Survey shows disparity in wages of men and women
A government survey has showed wide disparity between male and female wage earners in the 15-59 age group both in urban and rural areas. The study conducted by National Sample Survey Office for 2007-08 said that while the average wage rate in rural areas was Rs 175.30 per day for males it was Rs 108.14 for females. Similarly, in urban areas, the average wage rate for males was Rs 276.04 per day...
More »Plight of India's 'floating villagers' by Amarnath Tewary
More than a million people settled along the Kosi river in the Indian state of Bihar live an uncertain and nomadic life in "floating villages" because of frequent flooding. Whenever Babuji Sah walks towards his village, Birbar, he says he feels like an ageing camel struggling to find his new address in the sand-filled desert. That is because Birbar is forced to move location every three to four years. The pathways...
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