-Tehelka The amendments also make it clear that children between 14 and 18 years will also not be allowed to work in hazardous industries. The Union Cabinet on 13 May cleared a change in the Child Labour Act which said children below 14 years of age can work in non-hazardous industries and too during holidays or after school hours. The changes in labour law provide for stricter punishment for Employers for violation. While...

-The Indian Express Niggling procedural hassles stymie efforts to modernise antiquated labour regulations.   As it completes one year in office, the NDA government seems to have finally bit the bullet and taken up the controversial Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, for amendments that would allow easier retrenchment and closure norms for firms with up to 300 workers though ensuring that the employees get higher compensation in return. The draft code on industrial relations has...

-Business Standard The Centre proposed a slew of measures for workers ahead of Labour Day. Suggesting flexibility for Employers in hiring and firing labour, it also proposed provisions for a better compensation package. Union Labour Secretary Shankar Aggarwal tells Somesh Jha both workers and Employers should be ready for a change demanded by the new dynamism of the economy. Edited excerpts: * How important is rationalisation of trade unions? Unions are formed so...

-Newslaundry.com The circumstances of Nagaraju Koppula’s death point to reasons why our newsrooms continue to be incapable of absorbing people from disadvantaged backgrounds. In a heavily contractualised media industry, unions have become a bad word and journalists associated with unions have come to be looked on as trouble makers. It’s no surprise, then, that lawyers, academics and activists outnumbered journalists at the condolence-cum-stocktaking meeting called on by the Delhi Union of Journalists...

-The Times of India AHMEDABAD: At a time when the 'Gujarat model' is being discussed on global forums, agriculture labourers in rural areas of the state are among the lowest paid in the country. These labourers form the backbone of the rural economy in the state. The average daily wage paid to agricultural labourers in Gujarat is the lowest among 20 states. Only Madhya Pradesh pays less to its farm workers than...