The National Food Security Act 2013 guarantees maternity benefit to the tune of Rs. 6,000/- per child by the Central Government for pregnant women and lactating mothers, barring those who are already availing such benefits while being in regular employment with the Central Government or State Governments or Public Sector Undertakings or under other laws. The NFSA 2013 also legally guarantees free meals for every pregnant woman and lactating mother...

-Outlook India If talks of lockdown turn into reality and if it gets implemented for a month or more, then a reverse migration of daily wage labourers can be expected from impacted cities, say experts Mixed signals from some of the states like Delhi, Maharashtra, Karnataka among others is giving rise to concern that a repeat of last year’s exodus of migrant labourers during the extended lockdown would once again impact operations...

When a massive sum of public money is spent on a programme like Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (MGNREGA)--a demand-driven programme, there is likelihood of financial misappropriations and mismanagement. Thankfully there are checks and balances in the rural employment guarantee legislation to counter such malpractices. It is worth noting that the total allocation under the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (MGNREGA) for 2020-21 was Rs. 1,11,500.00 crore (R.E.), up...

-PTI/ The Telegraph The codes on wages, industrial relations, social security and occupational safety, health and working conditions have already been notified The ministry of labour and employment has finalised rules under the four labour codes, paving the way to make reforms a reality by notifying those for implementation soon. The four broad codes on wages, industrial relations, social security and occupational safety, health and working conditions (OSH) have already been notified after...

-The Hindu That there is no targeted employment programme to alleviate the immediate crisis is a matter of concern The Budget, at its simplest, is the government’s tentative income and expenditure statement. Like all financial statements, the devil lies in the fine print. At its broadest, the Budget is a pious statement of the government’s policy and ideological intentions. It is also the government’s statement of how it seeks to tackle the...