Jobs requiring AI skills carry a significant wage premium, with some roles offering up to a 25 per cent increase in wages, notes Manoj Nagpal, vice president, professional services, OpenText, an information management company.
After assuming power in 2014 with a full majority of its own, the BJP-led NDA government started an ambitious process of reforming labour laws in the form of codes aimed at making the framework less cumbersome with a variety of alterations. It had planned four codes each for industrial relations, wages, social security and welfare, and occupational safety, health and working conditions. To this end, 35 central labour laws were to be converted into four codes that would have had the virtue of streamlining labour relations. But none of the proposed code Bills could be converted into a law principally because neither trade unions nor industry representatives came on board. They hold the key to India's low-growth-high unemployment paradigm but the government may struggle to push them through this time as well. Somesh Jha explains why
Three Union ministers and farmer leaders will meet in Chandigarh at 6 pm to discuss their demands, including a legal guarantee for MSP for crops and farm debt waiver.
The government has decided that there has to be a floor minimum wage for the workers.
The Opposition parties need to spell out how exactly they will protect the citizen from government excess, asserts T N Ninan.
BMS general secretary Virjesh Upadhyay said, "There are many anomalies in the draft rules on Code on Wages which need to be amended. The new rules are silent about many provisions clearly provided in the four Acts subsumed in the code."
According to draft Code on Social Security, 2019, gig and platform workers will be entitled to life and disability cover, health and maternity benefits, among others.
Instead of mechanically consolidating all labour laws into one, provisions of all labour laws should be relooked in terms of their substance. The irrelevant and archaic provisions have to be fixed, says Aparajita Gupta.
'Right to apprenticeship means that anyone below the age of 25 years with a diploma or other qualifications can demand an apprenticeship with a private, a public sector company or a government organisation. And when he/she demands this, it is the obligation of the government to provide it.'
'In India, managers and the leadership almost glorify overworking.'
Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar said, the purpose of labour reforms is to provide a transparent system to suit the changed business environment.
At present, laws on wages do not cover workers getting a monthly wage of more than Rs 18,000
If retrenched workers are unable to reskill within a fixed period of time, they will have to return the money given to them by the government. Moreover, they may be asked to pay back an interest on the sum transferred.
The Centre has, however, retained its proposal to curb flash strikes as workers in all factories will be required to give employers a strike notice of at least two weeks after the Bill becomes a law.
Labour law changes for three years may not be enough as it takes a couple of years for factories to build and operations at a proper scale start only in the third or fourth year.
The Code on Social Security, 2020 gives a lot of comfort to gig firms which recognise cab drivers or food delivery executives as 'independent contractors' who directly do business with customers with the help of their digitised platforms.
The ten central trade unions have demanded a cash transfer of Rs 7,500 a month to all families that do not pay income tax, free ration of 10 kg per head in a month to all the needy, expansion of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment scheme to cover more days of job, withdrawal of labour codes and farm bills, halt on privatisation, universal pension coverage and withdrawal of "draconian" circular on forced premature retirement of government officials.
Assuming we still have a Modi-led majority government after May 2024, there is no guarantee that reforms will move at anything more than a snail's pace, though we must be thankful even for that, notes R Jagannathan.
Small Factories Act, Industrial Relations Code likely to be redrafted under pressure from Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh
"Allah ko pyaari ho gayi meri beti," said Ansaar, whose 11-day-old daughter was among the seven newborns killed in a blaze at a childcare hospital.
This is the full text of the address to the nation by President Droupadi Murmu on the eve of India's 78th Independence Day.
Enterprising creator, Ishwar Deen who poured in over two-and-a-half lakh rupees into his labour of love was ordered to dismantle the rotor that he had welded on to the roof of an old car to make it resemble a chopper.
The new definition under the Code of Wages, 2019, includes three components: basic pay, dearness allowance and retention payment.
The protesting farmers have been staying put at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana after their "Delhi Chalo" march was stopped by the security forces.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a pitch for electing a strong and stable government in an uncertain world beset by geopolitical tensions as the Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday released its manifesto, prioritising development and welfare while shunning populist measures and contentious issues like the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
India's cement demand has consistently shown double-digit growth over the past few quarters, primarily driven by infrastructure spending. However, dealers and industry executives note that state elections, festival season, and, in some markets, weddings and pollution may temporarily disrupt this demand story. While the festival season typically sees a slowdown in construction activity, some dealers anticipate this lull extending throughout the entire month as multiple states enter election mode.
Protests by central labour unions and widespread criticism from Opposition parties because of job losses on account of demonetisation and the GST have put the contentious labour reform proposals in the slow lane.
The construction lift in the 40-storey building located in Balkum area off the Ghodbunder Road here collapsed on Sunday evening.
Each bottle of pickle that leaves FarmDidi, headed to a consumer, has a little kahani behind it -- it's linked to the tale of a life, the life of a simple, striving village woman who created it, and that's what gives Manjari Sharma satisfaction and happiness.
A joint forum of central trade unions has given a call for a nationwide strike on March 28 and 29, to protest against government policies affecting workers, farmers, and people. The Joint Platform of central trade unions held a meeting in Delhi on March 22, 2022, to take stock of the preparations in various states and sectors for the proposed two-day all India strike on 28-29 March 2022 against "the anti-worker, anti-farmer, anti-people and anti-national policies" of the central government, a statement said. The statement said that roadways, transport workers and electricity workers have decided to join the strike in spite of the impending threat of ESMA (Haryana and Chandigarh, respectively). Financial sectors, including banking and insurance, are joining the strike, it stated.
Taxing the existing retirement benefits schemes would affect the working class, the labour ministry said.
A panel of Union ministers held a fourth round of talks with farmer leaders in Chandigarh on Sunday over their demands, including a legal guarantee of MSP, as thousands of protesting farmers camped at the Punjab-Haryana border.
Calling the Budget 2018 'anti-labour', the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh will observe February 20 as a 'black day'.
Sitharaman said the Bill has proposed giving a legal framework for fixed-term employment through which contract workers serving a fixed-tenure will get equal statutory social security benefits as regular workers in the same unit.
'The Budget will be positive, continuing on the path of growth taken so far.'
A survey, with over 3,700 respondents across digital platforms, found that transparent taxation has been one of the most significant initiatives of the government followed by the production-linked incentives (PLI) scheme, equalisation levy and new labour codes.
Labour rights activist Naudeep Kaur was freed Friday by the Punjab and Haryana high court, which said slapping charges like attempt to murder on her is a 'debatable issue' to be considered at a later stage in the trial.
On the eve of the Modi government's two years in office, the RSS-linked Bharatiya Mazdoor Sabha leadership met Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. After the meeting, the BMS claimed the FM told its delegation 'the government has realised that labour reforms are not essential for industrial growth in the country.'
India's time use survey for January-December 2019 had found that an average person in urban areas spends 485 (eight hours and five minutes) minutes on employment and related activities.
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