Labour’s data lost

Narayanan, Rajendran and Pandey, Bishwa (2020) Labour’s data lost. The Hindu.

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Abstract

The mission statement from the Ministry of Labour and Employment reads: “Improving the working conditions and the quality of life of workers through laying down and implementing policies/ programmes/ schemes/ projects for providing social security and welfare measures, regulating conditions of work, occupational health and safety of workers, eliminating child labour from hazardous occupations and processes, strengthening enforcement of labour laws and promoting skill development and employment services”. However, a cogent critique of the labour codes by the Working People’s Charter shows how they contradict the Labour Ministry’s mission statement and lack any social protection measures. Moreover, the Indian Labour Conference (ILC), the apex level consultative committee concerned with labour, last met in 2015. Isn’t it odd that even a nationally constituted body such as the ILC was not consulted before the passage of codes that are going to affect 90% of the workforce? For the nearly 50 crore ‘informal’ workers in India, the codes come as another cruel joke when the embers of the largest crisis for workers have not died down.

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Newspaper Article

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Narayanan, Rajendran and Pandey, Bishwa

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