-The Indian Express   With Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee resigning from the Union Cabinet to take over as the Chief Minister of West Bengal, the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC) today completely sidelined her objections against government role in land acquisition — even for private industry. “The government will be acquiring 100 per cent of the land for public purpose by offering very good compensation to landowners. If the public purpose...

Still to decide on private land acquisition The Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC) decided on Wednesday to propose to the government that compensation for those whose land is acquired for public purposes — such as a dam, irrigation project or military installation — will be six times the registered sale deed value, including solatium. It will also recommend that those whose livelihood and shelter are adversely affected because of acquisition for...

-The Times of India   Farmers agitation against land acquisition in Kolayat in Bikaner district started on a violent note on Tuesday when thousands of protestors clashed with police and smashed a couple of government vehicles. The farmers led by local MLA and former minister Devi Singh Bhati were demanding better compensation for their lands acquired by the state government and a rehabilitation package on the lines of that given by...

-The Business Standard   Only anecdotal evidence has been available so far to back the assertion that there has been a sharp rise in agricultural wages. Now, field data bear out the trend. Collected by the Shimla-based Labour Bureau, these numbers show a roughly 50 per cent cumulative rise in rural labour wages in the past two years. The increase in Andhra Pradesh has been assessed at over 40 per cent...

For most people in cities, Labour Day (or May Day, which was on May 1) was just another public holiday that nobody thought too much about. On a day marked to give voice to the rights of the Indian work force, perhaps one ought to consider those who have been forced to join their ranks too soon - child labourers. According to government estimates, an astounding 42.02% of the Indian workforce...