ILO Warns 1.6 Bn Workers Risk Having Their ‘Livelihoods Destroyed’ by Pandemic
Hundreds of millions of the world’s most vulnerable workers will be hit by the aftermath of the coronavirus lockdown, says the UN labour agency.
Implement MGNREGA to Deal with Unemployment Crisis, Eminent Citizens Urge Rural Development Ministry
Eminent citizens write to the Union Minister of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj demanding widespread upscaling of MGNREGA to deal with the economic crisis resulting from the countrywide lockdown.
May Day: 12-hour Working Day Notifications
Just as trade unions prepare to (virtually) celebrate the May Day this year, a number of state governments have passed amendments to the Factories Act, 1948 reversing the very origins of May Day – the right to an 8-hour working day. Are the amendments lawful?
Petition – Levy a 2% Emergency Coronatax on the Wealth of the Richest 1% People.
Prominent activists, intellectuals, academicians release an online petition for signatures from people to mount pressure on the government to tax the rich to finance much needed relief measures and improvement of health services.
Cuba: From AIDS, Dengue, and Ebola to COVID-19
The U.S. dawdled for months before reacting to the pandemic. Cuba’s preparation for COVID-19 began on January 1, 1959.
What Doesn’t Add Up in Nirmala Sitharaman’s Relief Package for India’s Poor
Kabir Agarwal, Anuj Srivas How impactful will finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s relief package for India’s poorest actually end up being? The Narendra Modi government unveiled the contours of the Rs 1.7 lakh crore package on Thursday, with a promise that it was for people who needed immediate help – like migrant workers, and the urban…
Unemployment Pandemic
Capitalist crises are neither predictable nor do they stem from a single cause. Instead, at least as I see it, the possibility of a crisis is always there but the causes and triggers are all historical and therefore multiple and varied. Sometimes, crises in capitalism stem from difficulties in extracting more surplus from workers and…
A Niggardly Response to an Extraordinary Crisis
C.P. Chandrasekhar In a show of solidarity, some of India’s opposition leaders have declared the much-delayed relief package (titled Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana) announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on March 26 to mitigate the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic on the poor as a welcome “first step”. But any serious scrutiny of the…
9 Million Jobs Lost in 6 Years, a First in Indian History
Courtesy: The Wire A recent working paper published by the Centre for Sustainable Employment, Azim Premji University has contested official claims on employment, showing an “unprecedented” fall in total employment from 2011–12 to 2017–18. Written by Santosh Mehrotra and Jajati K. Parida, the study says employment dropped by 9 million between these years—“for the first…
Can India’s Rich Wealth Creators Boost the Economy to $5 Trillion?
Addressing the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Independence Day, said that wealth creation is a national service and that wealth creators should not be viewed with suspicion. Furthermore, he added, only when wealth is created can it be distributed. These statements come at a time when the…