LABOUR EMPLOYMENT

							                     LABOUR/ EMPLOYMENT-2003
                                                                                    Compiled & Edited By
                                                                                                K. SAMU
                                                                           Human Rights Documentation,
                                                      Indian Social Institute, Lodi Road, New Delhi, India

7th Jan
Worker entitled to ESI benefits from date of employment: SC (14)
NEW DELHI, JAN. 6. The Supreme Court, in an important ruling, has held that a worker covered under
the Employees State Insurance (ESI) Act would be entitled to the benefits from the date of his
employment and not from the date of registration after contribution by the employer. A Bench, comprising
lustice S.S.M. Quadri and Justice Arijit Pasayat, allowing an appeal from Bharagath Engineering against a
judgment of the Madras High Court, made it clear that the date of payment of the contribution by the
employer to the ESI was not material to the issue. The Bench was of the view that the provisions of the
ESI Act cast a statutory obligation on the employer to insure its employees and that being a statutory
obligation, the date of commencement had to be from the date of employment. (Hindu 7.1.03)

9th Jan
Strike against liberalization (14)
New Delhi: Trade unions on Wednesday claimed that lakhs of workers participated throughout the country
in massive satyagraha against the government's economic policies, especially privatisation. The call was
given by central trade unions like the All India Trade Union Congress, the Central ^ Indian Trade Union,
the Hind Mazdoor Sabha, the Indian National Trade Union Congress and others. Though, RSS-backed
Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh was not directly involved in the strike, its secretary, R K Bhakta, was present in
the rally in the Capital where nearly 10,000 workers participated and later courted arrest. (Times of India
9.1.03)

13TH Jan
Centre mulls more benefits for unorganized sector (14)
NEW DELHI, Jan. 12. — The Centre is trying to ensure more protection for the millions of workers in
unorganised sector and is readying a Bill that would give them some advantages.
A draft Unorganised Sector Workers' Bill, 2003, has been sent to all states and Union Territories for their
views before it is brought before Parliament. The Bill tries to regulate the employment and conditions of
service and provide for health benefits, safety, social security. Workers will be entitled to benefits from the
age of 14 to 60. The Centre is looking at some schemes and these could relate to medical care, sickness
benefit, employment injury benefit, invalidity benefit, maternity benefit, old age benefit including pension,
family benefit and survivors' benefit. The Bill also has a provision for constitution of a 'Lok Sharamik
Panchayat' for resolving disputes in the unorganized sector (Statesman 13.11.03)

15th Jan
20 years’ slavery .. just for Rs 2,000 (14)
Ranchi: SLAVERY might have been abolished several years ago, but it still seems to exist in a village of
Jharkhand. Saryu Bhuia, a resident of Karso village of Daltonganj works just like a slave. He gets Rs 10
per day against the rules of minimum wage made by the State Government. The State Government has
fixed minimum wages of Rs 60 per day. According to reports, Bhuia had taken a loan of Rs 2,000 from
Balram Pandey, his landlord, twenty years back. When he failed to pay back the money on time, he was
forced to work on wages of Rs 5 per day. At present, he works more than 16 hours in a day against the
prescribed rules of eight hours.
Now he has taken up the issue with the district administration of Daltonganj. Initially for ten years he
worked for Rs 5 per day. After completion of ten years his 'kind hearted' landlord doubled the wages.
(Pioneer15.1.03)

28th Jan
Trade unions threaten stir (14)
NEW DELHI, JAN. 27. Angry over the Government's decision to go ahead with the privatisation of the
Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) and the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL),
trade unions and some political parties today reacted sharply, with the oil sector unions virtually
threatening an indefinite strike to protest against the move which was cleared by the Cabinet Committee
on Disinvestment (CCD) on Sunday. While the Congress and the Left parties criticised the decision, the
CPI(M) called for a countrywide protest on February 14 and the oil sector unions threatened an indefinite
strike from the day the Government notifies a schedule for privatising the two public sector companies.
Ashok Singh, president of the Oil Sector Officers Association, a representative body of all trade unions,
said that all employees and officers of the public sector oil companies would join the indefinite strike.
(Hindu 28.1.03)

28th Jan
SC order on dismissal of temporary employees (14)
NEW DELHI, Jan. 27. — The Supreme Court has ruled that the services of a temporary employee can be
terminated by the employer if his performance is found to be unsatisfactory.
A Bench of Mr Justice SV Patil and Mr Justice HK Sema set aside an order of the Lucknow Bench of the
Central Administrative Tribunal that had reinstated an employee of the Intelligence Bureau dismissed by
the government on account of unsatisfactory performance. The employee's services were terminated after
his performance was found to be unsatisfactory on account of his negligence as he was found sleeping
during duty hours when he was posted at IGI airport here.
Also, he was on leave for six months during his tenure of about one and a half years, absenting himself
from duty in anticipation of sanction of leave on account of his marriage and that of his sister. (Statesman
28.1.03)

29th Jan
Banks sit on loan applications for self-employment schemes (14)
New Delhi: With the states condemning the "apathy and non-cooperation" of nationalised banks in
providing credit assistance for self-employment programmes in rural areas, the Centre has promised a
high-level meeting to sort out the "bottlenecks". On Tuesday, the second day of a two-day conference of
state ministers of rural development, panchayati raj and public works, the states said the attitude of the
banks was severely hampering efforts to help the poor take up self-employment ventures. Ministers and
officials from 30 states and Union territories took part in the conference, using the opportunity also to
highlight the issues related to the Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojna — delivery and quality of
foodgrains, and transportation costs. (Times of India 29.1.03)

CITI siege hits Govt. machinery (14)
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, JAN. 28. In a massive display of working-class resistance, thousands of CITU
workers and their families laid siege to the State Secretariat and district collectorates today, asking the
UDF Government to roll back policies that resulted in loss of wages and employment, particularly in
plantation and traditional industrial sectors. Reflecting the mood outside, the Opposition LDF members
staged a walkout in the Assembly. Hundreds of workers and their family members created a human wall
around the State Secretariat early in the morning in an emphatic articulation of workers' ire against the
Antony Government's liberalisation policies. The siege was formally inaugurated later by the Leader of the
Opposition, V. S. Achuthanandan, who arrived before the Secretariat after leading the Opposition LDF
members out of the Assembly to protest against the Government's refusal to allow a discussion on the
issues that the CITU sought to highlight through its agitation. (Hindu 29.1.003)

3RD Feb
Orissa village heads seek 10-fold hike in their pay (14)
Bhubaneswar, Feb. 2: After the Orissa legislators succeeded in getting their salary hiked, it is now turn of
the 10,727 sarpanches and panchayat secretaries to raise a similar demand. The sarpanches have
demanded that their salaries be hiked 10 times from Rs 300 to Rs 3,000.
If their demand is conceded, the cash-starved state will have to bear an extra burden of nearly Rs 20
crores per month. Speaking at the first Orissa sarpanch and panchayat secretaries coordination samiti
meeting in Bhubaneswar on Sunday, many legislators were seen supporting the demand. As more power
is being transferred to the panchayats, the workloads on sarpanches have increased and their honorary
salary needs to be hiked, a list of demands published by the panchayat-level people's representative
stated. (Asian Age 3.2.03)

4th Feb
Bihar govt defends itself on non-payment of salaries (14)
NEWDELHI, FEBRUARY 3: THE Bihar government today sought to defend itself in Supreme Court on the
issue of non-payment of salaries to thousands of employees working with various undertakings of the
state government. During the hearing of the issue before a bench comprising Chief Justice of India VN.
Khare, Justice S.B. Sinha and Justice A.R. Lakshmanan, Bihar government counsel Shanti Bhushan
refused to take responsibility for the mess saying the undertakings were sick and winding up petitions had
already been filed in the Patna High Court.
"Let the high court decide those winding up petitions. In any joint stock company we are liable only to the
extent we hold the shares," Bhushan told the bench. (Indian Express 4.2.03)

6th Feb
For work done… Give them a farthing (14)
Kharagpur: Feb. 5. — Life is a nightmare for some of the labourers working on (he Prime Minister's
'dream project1 — the Golden Quadrilateral Project that envisages national highways linking the four
corners of India. For them, even gruelling work for more than 12 hours a day is not enough to earn a
decent livelihood. It simply prevents death from starvation — by providing only as much as a meal a day.
This is the fate of about 500 people from GadvvaL a remote village of Andhra Pradesh. They have been
working on National Highway 60 for the past one year. For them, dreams for the future are subsumed by
the daily struggle to survive. (Statesman 6.2.03)

Two held for sending people to Greece in milk tankers (14)
New Delhi: Two persons, including a woman, have been arrested for allegedly transporting job-seekers to
Greece in milk tankers. As per the modus operandi, the accused provided a safe passage to job-seekers
till Ukraine from where they were sent to Greece in tankers. With the arrest of the two accused, 23 victims
trapped in Ukraine have been rescued. According to Delhi Police, when the officials of the ministry of
external affairs reached the place in Ukraine, they found the victims in one room. Accused Jasbir Kaur
and Kuldeep Singh allegedly charged Rs five lakh for sending job aspirants to Greece. But on most
occasions the accused destroyed their passports and left them stranded to seek refugee status there.
(Times of India 6.2.03)

8th Feb
Absent members force labour laws to a backseat (14)
New Delhi: WITH ONLY two members present, the meeting of the 10-member Parliamentary
Consultative Committee on Labour on Friday turned out to be just an hour-long affair, reducing the
supposedly vital discussion on the draft of the umbrella legislation on unorganised sector workers to a
mock debate. The draft Unorganised Sector Workers Bill, which is slated to be introduced in the Budget
session, has come under attack from trade union organisations who have termed it a "fake umbrella
legislation". The Parliamentary Consultative Committee of the Labour Ministry was to thoroughly discuss
the draft legislation in view of the criticism from trade unions. However, extremely low attendance in the
meeting led to wrapping up of the deliberations in just one hour, with most of the time being consumed by
a detailed visual presentation of the bill. (Pioneer 8.2.03)

13th Feb
NDA-led Govt. anti-labour, says Gurudas Gupta (14)
JAIPUR, FEB. 12. Trade union leader and former MP, Gurudas Gupta, today described the NDA-led
Government at the Centre as "the most adversarial regime ever for the working class" in the country. "This
is a senseless Government which has got ears only for the sants and industrialists. It has no time for the
labourers," he said. Mr.Gupta, general secretary of the All-India Trade Union Congress(AITUC) now on a
tour of the country to organise the working class against the new economic policy, said that in the past
four years about one crore people had lost their jobs due to the policies of the Government. During this
period six lakh factories were closed down and the number of unemployed swelled to an all-time high of
15 crores, he alleged. (Hindu 13.2.03)

14th Feb
Sops sought for unorganized sector (14)
New Delhi, February 13: LABOUR MINISTER Sahib Singh wants the coming Budget to announce a Rs
1,000 crore pension scheme for workers in the unorganised sector. The minister has reportedly told the
Finance Minister that the Centre was meeting 1.16 per cent cost of the EPF pension scheme for the
organised sector where workers enjoyed the benefits from several other social security schemes also. But
workers in the unorganised sector, who account for 93 per cent of the country's total workforce, have to
depend only on schemes of social sector departments of the Central and state governments for social
protection. The Labour Ministry has now finalised an Unorganised Sector Workers Bill and wants the Rs
1,000 crore-pension scheme to be its highlight. The Bill is based on the recommendations of the second
National Labour Commission which was asked to draft an umbrella legislation on the subject. (Hindustan
Times 14.2.03)

Employees cannot be sacked for disability: SC (14)
New Delhi: Standing by the physically challenged persons, the Supreme Court on Thursday said that a
government employee cannot be rendered jobless if he/she becomes disabled during the service. The
disability incurred by an employee during service cannot b6 made a ground for throwing him/her out of job,
a Bench of Justices Shivraj Patil and Arijit Pasayat said while quashing a Himachal Pradesh High Court
judgment which had rejected an aggrieved employee Kunal Singh's plea for his reinstatement. Singh was
a constable in the Special Security Bureau (SSB) at Kullu and while on duty sustained an injury in one of
his legs which had to be amputated subsequently. (Times of India 14.2.03)

25th Feb
Salary without work (14)
New Delhi : THOUGH FACED with funds crunch, Delhi University, it seems, can afford to pay salaries to
an employee even if the person is not doing any work. A case in point is Banwari Lal Meena, a deputy
registrar. The university has transferred him to a high sounding but non-existent Administrative Reforms
Cell (ARC) at the North Campus. For over two months, Mr Meena has been drawing his salary even
though he is yet to locate the place of his new posting. The ARC doesn’t exist even on paper. Mr Meena
was with the university's external candidates and non-formal educational cell before his new posting. He
was transferred to the ARC on December 19 by the then registrar, R N lyer. Sources said as per the
transfer order, Mr Meena had been asked to report to Dr R P Bhatia, officer on special duty in the
university's publication divisions as "the ARC comes under him". (Pioneer, 25-2-2003)

28th Feb
Unemployment rises (14)
New Delhi: The spectre of 'jobless growth' appears to have struck India good and proper in the
post-liberalisation era, with the Economic Survey recording a decline hi the rate of growth of employment.
Employment growth declined from 2.7 per cent per annum in 1983-94 to just 1.07 per cent per annum in
1994-2000. This overall decline in the 1990s "was associated with a comparatively higher growth rate in
GDP, indicating a decline in the labour intensity of production," the survey notes. There has also been a
near stagnation of employment in agriculture. The share of the farm sector in total employment is down
from 60 per cent in 1993-94 to 57 per cent in 1999-2000.Even as it confirms the existence of jobless
growth, the Economic Survey says disinvestment did not have an adverse impact on employment. (Times
of India, 28-2-2003)

4TH March
Spar over statistics. (14)
New Delhi, March 3 : Gleeful Lok Sabha members watched as the Prime Minister and the Leader of the
Opposition sparred briefly after the latter took a dig at the government for making fall claims on the
creation of job opportunities for the unemployed. As Mr Vajpayee rattled off figures showing his
government and provided 72 lakh jobs in the previous year. Mrs Gandhi intervened to remind him of his
government’s poll promise to provide jobs to one crore people every year. “By now there should have
been 3.5 crore jobs, “Mrs Gandhi said. (Statesman, 4-3-2003)

10th March
VRS money not paid in full, Balco workers. (14)
NEW DELHI : The sale of Balco to Sterlite Industries in 2001 was a test came that resulted in a Supreme
Court judgment in favour of the governments’s privatization policies. Now, the same case has led to
Prime Ministerial intervention that might set yet another benchmark for other cases of privatisation.
Recently, a committee comprising officials from the ministries of disinvestment and labour including
workers' representatives — visited Balco's Korba plant in Chhattisgarh to look into the grievances of the
firm's employees. The committee, established by the PM last October, has a broad mandate of probing
the complaints of workers in privatised public sector companies. On December 9, 203 of the 539 Balco
employees who had taken the 'voluntary retirement' (VRS) package offered by the management wrote to
the MM, Opposition leader Sonia Gandhi and other, stating, “Due to the management’s ill-treatment,
harassment, unbearable humiliation and fear of an uncertain future, a large number of employees had to
submit their option for voluntary retirement." The shareholders' agreement signed by the government and
the buyer, Sterlite Industries Ltd, had stipulated: "(The company) shall not retrench any part of the labour
force of the company for a period of one year." (Time of India, 10-3-2003)

13th March
 GoM on labour reforms agrees to do away with licensing. (14)
NEW DELHI, MARCH 12. The Group of Ministers (GoM) on labour reforms today discussed the proposed
amendments in the Labour Act seeking to open the 'core' and 'non-core' sector for the contract labour and
improving the service conditions of the workers. The reconstituted GoM meeting chaired by the Deputy
Chairperson of the Planning Conimission, K.C. Pant, agreed to simplify the system of registration of
contractors and do away with licensing. However, no consensus was arrived at on the issue of welfare of
the workers, including insurance cover against illness, accidents and death with the Labour Minister, Sahib
Singh Verma, insisting on social security for the workers. A final decision would be taken in a fortnight
when the GoM on labour reforms meets once again. A bill seeking amendments to the Labour Act is likely
to be tabled in Parliament after recess. (Hindu, 13-3-2003)

14th March
TN cooperative mills going private. (14)
CHENNAI,MARCH 13. In a major policy move, the Tamil Nadu Government has decided to throw open
the cooperative sector to private companies. Going the Andhra Pradesh way, Tamil Nadu will soon clear
the legal decks for selling off its cooperative sugar and spinning mills, which have piled up nearly Rs.
1.500-crore losses over the years. The Cabinet, which met on March 4, is believed to have given the nod
for amending the Tamil Nadu Cooperative Societies Act, to provide for takeover of the cooperative mills by
private companies. "The Act will be amended with an enabling feature to hand over the mills to private
parties/' a highly-placed source said: An amending Bill is likely to be introduced in the budget session.
(Hindu, 14-3-2003)


17th March
Govt, for flexibility in hiring labour. (14)
NEW DELHI, MARCH 16. Despite the recent setback on the fertilizer Subsidy issue, the Government is
working towards labour reforms and is all set to provide flexibility to a number of industries in 'hiring and
firing' labour. The flexibility is intended to be provided not by diluting existing labour laws but by amending
the contract labour legislation to allow industry to take on labour on a temporary basis, depending on
market demand. If the proposals, currently being debated by a Group of Ministers headed by the Deputy
Chairperson of the Planning Commission, K.C. Pant, pass muster at the Cabinet lever and subsequently
secure Parliamentary approval, a big beneficiary would be the export industry. This sector has been
pleading for long with the Government to provide it the flexibility to hire labour for short durations to service
specific orders received from the international market. So far, export units have been constrained by the
fact that hiring of specialised labour to executed specific orders was not possible because the labour
became a permanent liability once the orders were serviced. Consequently, these companies' ability to
cope with changing international demand was restricted. (The Hindu, 17-3-2003)

Teacher acquitted by court after death. (14)
Bhubaneswar, March 16: Throughout his life he taught his pupils to follow the path of honesty and
sincerity. But little did the 63-year-old Somnath Chand know that one day, his honesty would be
questioned and he would be framed and forced to commit suicide under serious mental conditions.
Somnath, a resident of Mahura village under Baisinga police station in Balasore district, was an assistant
teacher in a middle English school. After joining service Somnath obtained a graduation degree in Arts
which enabled him to get a promotion. However, suspecting that his graduation certificate was fake, the
vigilance department officials filed a case against him in 1998. He was arrested and later suspended from
his job. After being released on bail the teacher desperately tried to prove his innocence. However, after
fighting for five long years he lost his mental balance and committed suicide on March 9, A day after his
death, the court, in its verdict, said Somnath' s certificate was not fake and the charges levelled against
him were baseless. (Asian Age, 17-3-2003)

27th March
Gulf returnees: Yashwant Sinha’s assurance to Antony (14)
NEW DELHI, MARCH. 26. The Kerala Chief Minister, A. K. Antony, returns to the State with an assurance
from the External Affairs Minister, Yashwant Sinha, that the Government would make every effort to
secure the jobs of Kuwait-based Indians returning home in the wake of the prevailing situation in the Gulf.
On a brief visit to the capital, Mr. Antony met Mr. Sinha this morning to advocate the cause of the large
number of Malayalis living in the Gulf, and apprise him of the possible fallout of a prolonged military
engagement on Kerala's economy. After his interaction with Mr. Sinha, the Chief Minister told the media
that the External Affairs Minister had assured him that the Government would strive to secure the jobs of
all Indians returning on account of the military action in Iraq. (Hindu 27.3.03)

Non-Muslims only can apply for US base job (14)
Bangalore, March 26: TUCKED IN the classifieds of national Indian dailies on Wednesday was an
advertisement that could further alienate the Muslim community from the United States. The
advertisement calls for applications from "non-Muslims only for sundry jobs at the US base
in northern Kuwait. The US base "urgently requires" lift operators, store keepers, clerks, typists, security
guards and drivers. The advertisement insists that the applicants, besides being non-Muslims, should
speak English and be below 36. The advertisement was issued by Indian head-hunters Rehman
Enterprises and Continental Mercantile. Executives of these firms said they were representing a Kuwaiti
company, Marafi, which has a "maintenance contract with the US army. (Hindustan Times 27.3.03)

30th March
Sonia seeks to galvanise workers (14)
New Delhi, March 29: THE CONGRESS geared up to counter the BJP by galvanising its workers with a
'pro-poor' plank. On Saturday, Sonia Gandhi committed the party to battle poverty and unemployment.
"The poor should always be at the core of our policies. I promise the Congress will, at all cost, stand by the
poor man," Sonia said at the end of the two-day national convention of block and district presidents.
Although the convention did not come up with a resolve a CWC meet to discuss the issue is expected
shortly. Sonia however did not react to the Prime Minister's ' onslaught on Sunday, preferring to hold her
fire for Sunday's desk bachao rally. But she exhorted her party workers to hold local rallies to expose the
BJP and its allies. (Hindustan Times 30.3.03)

1st April

Cabinet hikes DA by 3%, to give aid for power reforms
New Delhi, March 31: The Union Cabinet on Monday hiked the dearness allowance and dearness relief for
its employees and pensioners by three per cent and decided to give financial assistance to the tune of Rs
40,000 crores to the state electricity boards in the next five years in order to pave the way for reforms in
power sector distribution. The increase of DA from 52 to 55 per cent will be effective from January 1, 2003
and it would involve an additional financial burden of Rs 1,091.70 crores a year. Under the decision to
provide financial assistance to the SEBs, Rs 20,000 crores would be given to the different state electricity
boards to improve their infrastructure and an equal amount as incentives to reduce their cash losses. This
amount will, however, be linked to the performance of the respective state governments in terms of their
steps towards the reform process. (Asian Age 1.4.03)

2nd April
Jaitley seeks consensus on labour reforms
NEW DELHI, APRIL 1: Seeking a political consensus on labour reforms, the Commerce and Industry
Minister, Arun Jaitley, today urged the Opposition parties, especially the Congress, to allow these to go
ahead if they were seriously concerned about making the country's exports globally competitive. Referring
to a comment made recently by the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Sonia Gandhi, Mr. Jaitley
said that talk about Chinese goods flooding the Indian market must be tempered with the realism about
the differences in labour laws. "If you want our goods to flood their markets, then let the exporters have
same labour laws as China. Don't obstruct labour reforms," he added. He underscored the critical need for
flexible labour laws which would enable the Indian exporters to have a level-playing field vis-a-vis other
countries in terms on international trade. (Hindu 2.4.03)

7th April
New loan scheme for unemployed (14)
QHAZIABAD (UP), APRIL 6. Uttar Pradesh Minister of State for Labour Dharam Pal today said the
government had started a new self-employment scheme under which jobless youth could avail bank loan
up to Rs 5 lakhs without providing guarantee. He said the loans would be given for businesses under the
direct supervision of District Magistrates. If bank managers refused to disburse loans without guarantee,
District Magistrates could initiate legal action against them, Mr. Pal said. 'The raising of retirement age
from 58 to 60 years dealt a heavy blow to the availability of jobs for young generation,” he said. (Hindu,
7-4-2003)

9th April
Pension plan for non-govt staff too (14)
NEW DELHI, APRIL 8: THE Government will soon set up a new pension dispensation in the country that
will be applicable to all new entrants into government service except for the armed forces. A second tier of
pension funds which would be applicable to people working in the unorganised sector or even the
self-employed, but without any financial support from the Government, has also been envisaged. Under
the New Pension Scheme for Government em-
ployees, the employees will be required to contribute between 7.5 per cent and 10 per cent of the basic
salary to the pension payable to them at the time of retirement with an equivalent amount being
contributed by the Government. However, employees will not be allowed to withdraw any money from this
pension fund while in service. (Indian Express 9.4.03)

Go on recruitment ban to be withdrawn (14)
APRIL 8. The controversial Government Order No. 94, which has drawn heavy criticism from political
parties and youth organisations as it seeks to impose a ban on recruitment to several categories of
Government posts, will be withdrawn, the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu,
announced here today. The GO, which outlined the Government's policy on recruitment to public services,
made it clear that no new posts in non-core functional categories, which constitute a majority of the jobs,
would be made permanent. Direct recruitment would be restricted only in the case of vacancies arising
against the existing permanent posts in all departments. More importantly, it sought to defer direct
recruitment or contractual appointments in Group II and IV and Class IV posts till the adjustment of all
available direct recruits against future permanent vacancies. The GO drew flak from all quarters as it was
viewed as an attempt to downsize the Government and deprive job opportunities to the youth in public
services. (Hindu 9.4.03)

16th April
SC notice to Centre on non-payment of salaries in Bihar (14)
NEW DELHI, APRIL 15. The Supreme Court has issued notice to the Union Government on a petition
seeking payment of salaries to thousands of employees of public sector undertakings in Bihar. A Bench of
the Court comprising Chief Justice V.N. Khare, Justice S.B. Sinha and Justice A.R. Lakshmanan said it
wanted to hear the Attorney-General, Soli Sorabjee, on the issue of payment of interim relief to the
employees. The Court in September last year had issued notice to the Bihar Government on a public
interest petition complaining of nonpayment of salaries to the employees. Appearing for the Bihar
Government, senior counsel Shanti Bhusnan submitted that the State was not in a position to pay the
salary dues and said the Centre should come to its rescue. (Hindu 16.4.03)

18th April
Truckers’ talks go off the road (14)
New Delhi: Thursday's negotiations between the road transport minister and the AITMC got nowhere The
need for higher political intervention to resolve the issues is clear. The truckers’ union wants talks on the
whole range of issues, covering other ministries like finance and petroleum as well as state
governments. We don’t want piecemeal assurances, AITMC secretary-general Jatinder Mohan Saxena
said after the talks. "Till then, we are prepared to sit it out...for 40 days, if need be." (Times of India
18.4.03)

Weavers turn violent in Bangalore (14)
BANGALORE, APRIL 17. Police resorted to lathicharge, lobbed teargas shells and fired rubber bullets at
groups of protesting weavers here today. Several persons, including three policemen and a photographer,
were injured in the violence while about half a dozen vehicles were damaged in stone throwing. The
weavers, who gathered at Banappa Park around 10.30 a.m. to protest against the levy of 10 per cent
excise duty on their products, blocked traffic at Mysore Bank Circle for about an hour. Police persuaded
them to lift the blockade and go ahead with the procession for which permission had been given. The
weavers again blocked roads at Hudson Circle for two hours. Following pleas from the police, leaders of
the weavers proceeded in a procession to the Mahatma Gandhi statue. (Hindu 18.4.03)

Blueprint for 40 million jobs by 2020 (14)
NEW DELHI, APRIL 17. An expert group of economists and industrialists has worked out a blueprint to
take advantage of India's growing and young population to create 40 million new jobs by 2020 which could
add up to $200 billions to the country's gross domestic product (GDP). Headed by the Planning
Commission member, N.K. Singh, and comprising a number of economists and industrialists, this
strategic group was set up by the All-India Management Association (AIMA). The Boston Consulting
Group assisted the team in preparing its report, which was presented to the Prime Minister, Atal Behari
Vajpayee, today. The essence of the report is that India's opportunity lies in the changing demographics of
the world, coupled with the growth of service economies in the developed countries. (Hindu 18.4.03)

 Over 10 lakh Indians face axe in Saudi (14)
NEARLY 1.3 million Indian .expatriate workforce in Saudi Arabia will be hit by a proposed move by the
government to replace them with its nationals in 21 job categories. The          Saudi      Crown Prince
Abdullah, Deputy Premier and Commander of the National Guard, has ordered                a    government
committee to work out the modalities for replacing foreign workers in 21 different job sectors with Saudis
in a phased manner in a move to create employment. (Indian Express 18.4.03)

21st April
Labour report to test garib stand (14)
NEW DELHI, APRIL 20: CONGRESS ka haath, Garib ke saath" The new Congress slogan will be put to
test within weeks of being launched over its stand on the implementation of the second National Labour
Commission report. The recommendations are to be discussed in Parliament on April 22 and Congress
members are divided on whether to support the report or oppose it. Party president Sonia Gandhi and
senior leaders have been studying the report to fine-tune the party's stand on the issue. Former Labour
Minister of Andhra Pradesh and chief of the Indian National Trade Union Congress G. Sanjeeva Reddy
was on the Commission. Unlike some of his colleagues in Parliament, he does not find the
recommendations objectionable. (Indian Express 21.4.03)
19th April
 92,000 jobs in Indian IT industry in 10 years (14)
New Delhi: INDIA'S IT Industry has found a special mention in United Nations Economic and Social
Survey (ESCAP) which highlighted the $10 billion sales revenue and 92,000 new jobs created by the
sector in a matter of just 10 years. Terming the performance of Indian Infotech Industry as a "success
story, the survey said the Indian government has played an important role in providing critical inputs and
removing major bottlenecks in the patch of software development in order to achieve the export target of
$50 billion by 2008. (Pioneer 19.4.03)

23rd April
The (ir)relevance of Employment Exchanges (14)
JAIPUR, APRIL 22. If the present trend is any indication, the 450-odd people employed in Rajasthan's 50
Employment Exchanges will be forced to look for jobs elsewhere in the near future. There are fewer
registrations by those seeking jobs and even fewer placements for those who are already in the queue.
Jobs are otherwise also hard to come by and a Supreme Court order of 1996 making it not compulsory for
employers even in the Government and public sector to make selections through Employment Exchanges
have put a question mark on the role of the Employment Department in the State. Recruitments are not
taking place in the Government departments which are trying to reduce even the existing posts to cut
costs under the World Bank stipulations. (Hindu 23.4.03)

24th April
Truckers call off strike (14)
NEW DELHI, APRIL 23. The 10-day-old nation-wide truckers' strike was called off this evening following
an agreement between the All-India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC), which was spearheading the
agitation, and the Government. According to the agreement — providing a face saving for AIMTC which
was under pressure on account of a vertical split in its ranks and truckers in many States dissociating
themselves from the stir — the oil companies would be asked to consider if the periodicity of change in
prices of fuel every fortnight could be revised. While doing so, the companies would take into
consideration the views of the AIMTC. (Hindu 24.4.03)

2ND May

Bonded labourers rescued
BHOPAL, MAY 1 : Leaders of Shramik Adivasi Sangathan, which is an activist group working for the
cause of the tribals in the Harda-Betul-Khandwa belt of Madhya Pradesh, today claimed that members of
two Korku tribal families who were being kept as bonded labourers have been rescued after a dharna
organised by them at the Harda District Collector's office The Shramik Adivasi Sangathan leader,
Sha-mim issued a statement saying that about 400 tribals and dalits were sitting on an indefinite dharna at
the Harda Collectorate for rescuing a widow, Rukhma, and her two children, who were allegedly being
kept as bonded labourers tor the past eight years by one Madhu Vishnoi of Jhadpa village. The Sangathan
leaders have also drawn attention towards the plight of another family from Neemgaon which included
lagesar, his wife Sevanti and their two children, who were allegedly being kept as bonded labourers by one
Ishwardas Vishnoi for over 12 years. (Hindu 2.5.003)

3rd May
5 crore jobs by 2007: PMO strives to fulfill PM’s dream
New Delhi: VISIONS OF creating five crore employment opportunities by 2007, as draw up by Prime
Minister Atal B i h a r i Vajpayee, would not see the light of day unless substantial hard work is executed
on the ground. Mr Vajpayee himself is understood to be anxious on the follow-up being initiated by Central
departments, state administrations and other agencies involved in the exercise. To begin with, the
country's prevailing mechanism of surveys on employment and unemployment as conducted by the
National Sample Survey Organisation once in five years, has been struck down as "flawed." In its place,
the Government has asked the Department of Statistics to formulate a blueprint on how surveys on
employment independent of the NSS, could be institutionalized. (Pioneer 3.5.03)
6th May

Organised sector sheds 4.2 lakhs jobs in 01-02
Mumbai: In ANOTHER confirmation ' the shrinking number of organised sector jobs, new data show that
the organised sector employment has dipped by 4.2 lakh in'01-02. It marks the fifth consecutive year in
which organised sector jobs have fallen. More worrisome is that the reduction in jobs in 01-02 is larger
than the combined decline in the previous three years. Quickestimates of organized sector employment
released recently by the Directorate General of Employment and Training puts overall employment at 27.3
m in March 02 about 9.1.lakh less than the figure of March 97. These data pertain to all establishments in
the public sector and all non agricultural establishments in the private sector employing ten or more
workers. The organized sector however accounts for just around 7% of the overall employment in India.
(Economic Times 6.5.03)

8th May
201 holidays, 164 working days
NEW DELHI, MAY 7. Innumerable holidays outnumbering working days in the Government today
perturbed the elders, who demanded limiting the number of national holidays to just three. The issue was
raised in the Rajya Sabha through a special mention by the Congress members, Saifuddin Soz and
Rajeev Shukla, which was widely supported by several members, including the Shipping Minister,
Shatrughan Sinha. Government employees enjoyed as many as 201 holidays out of 365 days in a year,
outnumbering the working days which came to just 164, Mr. Soz said. Nowhere in the world were so many
holidays given to Government employees. While the Government was quick in implementing the Fifth Pay
Commission's report, it ignored the recommendation on curtailing holidays. The Fifth Pay Commission,
apart from recommending revival of the six-day week, had suggested only three national holidays — the
Republic Day, the.Independence Day and Mahatma Gandhi's birthday, Mr. Soz said. (Hindu 8.5.03)

10th May

Deposit Rs 50 crore to pay staff salaries, SC tells Bihar
New Delhi, May 9: Voicing concern over the plight of starving employees of sick PSUs in Bihar, the
Supreme Court on Friday directed the state government to deposit Rs 50 crore with the Patna High Court
which will proportionately disburse the amount to the workers who did not receive their salaries since
1993. A bench comprising Chief Justice V.N. Khare and Justice S.B. Sinha passed the interim order on a
PIL by lawyer Kapila Hingorani, who alleged that over 1000 employees have already died because the
state government failed to pay salaries to them for over ten years. (Hindustan Times 10.5.03)

13th May

Reservations have worked for weaker sections, says report
New Delhi: This will surely come as news to opponents of reservation in India. The International Labour
Organisation’s global report, “Time for Equality at Work”, maintains that “in a number of cases, affirmative
action” has helped the weaker sections. The report, which addresses the issue of discrimination at the
workplace, says: “Positive action in a number of cases has redressed labour market inequalities between
dominant and designated groups”. Taking note of the reservation policy in India, the report highlights the
opposition to it from a section which sees it as a compromise on merit and instead suggests increasing
access to education and improving its quality as a social leveler in the long run. But governments,
especially at the state level, lack the political commitment in widening education opportunities at the
school level despite the benefits of such a strategy in social leveling in Kerala, the report says. (Times of
India 13.5.03)

18TH May

Rajasthan to provide jobs to 73 lakhs in drought relief
Jaipur, May 17: Rajasthan would soon be credited with a world record of sorts when it provides jobs to as
many as 73 lakh persons a month under drought relief operations. The new revised labour ceiling, to be
achieved in two batches of 36.62 lakhs each for a period of 15 days, has surpassed the highest ever
drought period employment of 20.43 lakhs provided by the State Government in June 1987 when Rajiv
Gandhi was the Prime Minister. I believe it is a world record. Nowhere have I come across any relief
operation of this magnitude with this kind of quality the Rajasthan Chief Minister, Ashok Gehlot, noted
after giving clear instructions to the District Collectors to ensure that the enhanced labour ceiling was
achieved. (Hindu 18.5.03)

19th May

Average PF on retirement: Rs 30,000
Mumbai, May 18: After years of toil, an average Indian wage-earner gets a measly Rs 28,000-30,000 on
retirement as dues from his employees provident fund account. Experts tracking pension funds in the
country attribute the low pay-outs to the government's allowing low-salaried employees to withdraw money
from their EPF account. "The scheme has a liberal withdrawal policy. It has seven options where you can
take permanent withdrawals. Only in two cases are the withdrawals temporary and need to be paid back,"
Baman Mehta, CEO of Darashaw & Co, a premier brokering firm for pension funds and debt paper, told
The Telegraph. The EPF Scheme under the Employees' Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Act, 1952,
covers the full spectrum of private sector employees in over 177 industries. A normal wage earner has to
contribute 8.33 per cent of his earnings into his EPF account. (Telegraph 19.5.03)

21st May

Nationwide TU strike
New Delhi: Five leading Left trade unions are organizing one of the biggest countrywide strikes on
Wednesday against the government’s privatization and anti-labour policies. Though the RSS affiliated
Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) and the Congress Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) are
not participating in the strike, its impact would be felt in the banking, insurance, ports and mining sectors.
(Times of India 21.5.03)

22nd May

Strike cripples bank business
NEW DELHI, MAY 21. Public transactions in Banks across the Capital were badly affected today as a
majority of them remained closed in the wake of a nationwide strike call given by the Left-led trade unions
against the Centre's economic policies. Besides, several industrial areas also observed strike and workers
held demonstrations at various places. Hundreds of bank employees and various bank unions gathered
under the banner of the United Forum of Bank Unions at Jantar Mantar and organised a meeting
lambasting the Union Government for its anti-worker policies. Besides, insurance sector employees also
joined the strike and demonstrated near the Jeevan Bharti Building. Addressing bank employees, the
Forum's convenor, V.K. Gupta, warned the Government that if it continued with its disinvestment and
privatisation policies, workers of all sectors of the economy would launch a massive nation-wide strike
paralysing the functioning of the Government. "If Government fails to act on our warning within next 15
days, we would be holding a meeting to chalk out the final plan of action." (Hindu 22.5.03)

24th May

VRS once accepted by employer can’t be withdrawn, rules SC
New Delhi, May 23: THE SUPREME Court has held that an employee cannot withdraw an application
seeking to retire from service voluntarily if the employer has accepted his request. A bench comprising
Justice Shivaraj V Patil and Justice Arijit Pasayat while disposing of a bunch of petitions relating to VRS of
the Andhra Pradesh State Industrial Development Corporation (APSIDC) delivered the judgement.
Several employees had said that they be permitted to withdraw their applications under the VRS since
they continued to work with the APSIDC beyond the cut off date for voluntary retirement. The state's high
court had accepted the plea of the employees and asked the APSIDC to take them back. (Hindustan
Times 24.5.03)

30th May

Can’t trust Employment News ads
NEW DELHI, MAY 29 : THOUSANDS of candidates hoping to get a government teaching job were in for a
shock after responding to an advertisement for school teachers in Employment News,                        the
government's weekly career guide. A full-page advertisement that came out in its April 5 to 11 issue
asking for applications for a windfall of 3,801 posts in middle schools and primary schools, turned out to
be a scam. The fake advertisement— given in the name of a "Centre for Rural Educational Research &
Training" falling under the Department of Education — also asked prospective candidates to send Rs 80
with the application forms. SC/ST candidates were asked to send in Rs 30. "There are so many gov-
ernment departments that it is very difficult for us to differentiate and it wasn’t detected before publication,
said an official at Employment News who also admitted that advertisements coming in from government
departments all over the country are not verified before they are published in the paper. (Indian Express
30.5.03)

1ST June
EPF rates cut by half per cent (14)
New Delhi, May 31: With an eye on the upcoming Assembly elections, the Vajpayee government on
Saturday decided to marginally slash the EPF interest rates by half a per cent. The other crucial decision
taken was to give bonus to coincide with the golden jubilee celebrations of the employees provident fund.
Effectively, the Centre has managed to retain the EPF interest rate at 9.5 per cent, despite the half per
cent cut, by announcing a 0.5 per cent special bonus. The decisions to cut interest rate and also sanction
the special bonus, were taken at the meeting of the EPF central board of trustees, chaired by Union labour
minister Sahib Singh Verma. The rate cut follows the recommendation of the finance and investment sub-
committee in face of the falling interest rate in the economy. The finance ministry was apprehensive that
maintaining the interest rate at "artificially high-levels" at a time when the overall interest rates in the
economy were falling, would create a mismatch. (Asian Age 1.6.03)

5th June
Ban non-Kashmiri workers: PDP (14)
SRINAGAR, JUNE 4: PDF president Mehbooba Mufti today asked the Mufti Mohammed Sayeed
government to ban the entry of skilled workers from other states into Jammu and Kashmir as "we have a
growing number of educated unemployed whose services can be utilised in the area". Kashmir gets
labourers from Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar annually for menial jobs in brick-kilns,
construction and allied sectors. Mehbooba sounded angry with yesterday's budget presentation for
"ignoring" the aspirations of the educated unemployed youth in J-K. The J-K coalition government, on
Tuesday, presented the budget claiming it was headed for fiscal autonomy that would curtail the state's
economic reliance on the Centre. Earlier, the government has proceeded on Vote on Account to
"discipline" the "flawed" budgets of the previous National Conference government. (Indian Express 5.6.03)

9th June
Unemployment leads to begging in Bengal (14)
Kolkata, June 8: Industrial sickness has been the bane of West Bengal under the Left Front government
which has been ruling the roost for 26 years. Like all ills in a social milieu there has been a fall-out.
Out-of-work industrial workers have resorted to begging. Beggars in the city of joy and Howrah account for
35,000 of whom 70 per cent are jobless workers and their family members. About 64 per cent are men.
Over 25 per cent of city beggars have bank accounts with savings crossing Rs 25,000. Fourteen per cent
of them have bought land in the countryside and 70 per cent of them have a daily income of Rs 60. The
findings are from a study by the Beggars' Research Bureau dubbed the Calcutta's Beggars' Friend by
J.P.Starba, correspondent of the Wall Street Journal. It is headed by Shyam Bandopad-hyay, also known
as Shyam Pagla. who has been trying to rehabilitate beggars since 1968. A former employee of the state
transport corporation, Mr Bandopadhyay has rehabilitated nearly 24,000 beggars over the last 35 years.
(Asian Age 9.6.03)

9th June
Sena demands lion’s share of Mumbai job pie for Marathis (14)
Mumbai, June 8: Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Malshikar has announced an August 30 deadline for all
multinationals, Indian business institutions, shopping malls and restaurants here to reserve 90 per cent
jobs for "native Maharashtrians", threatening what is left of Bombay in Mumbai. That the Sena means
business is clear from what another leader, Shishir Shinde, did to the Shopper's Stop mall and
McDonald's restaurant at Mulund last Wednesday. Shinde stormed the shopping mall with 350 sainiks,
who first shattered the glass panes with stones. Once inside, they threatened the staff and ransacked its
plush furniture, demanding more jobs for Maharashtrians. Though Shopper's Stop authorities pleaded that
30 per cent of their employees were Marathis and they were looking to increase the ratio, the sainiks were
not deterred. (Telegraph 9.6.03)

12th June
Bihar puts in Rs 25 cr to clear pending salary bills (14)
PATNA, JUNE 11 :A MONTH after it was ordered by the Supreme Court to cough up Rs 50 crore to clear
salary arrears of thousands working in Bihar government corporations, the state government today
deposited Rs 25 crore with the Patna High Court as first instalment for disursal of arrears. Officials of the
State Bureau of Public Enterprises deposited the amount through cheque with the accounts section of the
High Court, official sources said. The SC on May 9 had directed-Bihar to deposit Rs 50 crore in two
instalments within two months before the Patna HC for its disbursal among some 22,000 employees. The
plight of Bihar government employees was first highlighted by The Sunday Express on August 25 last
year. A series of Express reports called Bihar's Bloodless Murder provided a graphic account of how
thousands of employees of the Bihar government had been reduced to penury, not paid salaries for at
least 10 years.
The SC bench had directed the Patna HC to utilise the money for disbursal of salaries of 19 boards and
corporations under the Bihar government. (Indian Express 12.6.03)

Servant thrown off the roof for seeking raise (14)
New Delhi, June 11: A DOMESTIC help was allegedly beaten up by his employer and pushed off from the
third floor terrace of the house in New Shivalik area of South Delhi yesterday morning.
The victim, Pawan Kumar's only fault was that he wanted a raise of Rs 500 and a weekly off on Sunday.
This was enough to anger his employer Vijay Pathak to the extent that he started abusing 32-year-old
Pawan and pushed him off the terrace. Pawan suffered fracture on his right foot and injuries on the right
side of his rib cage, left arm and the left side of his face. Pathak is absconding; South District Police have
registered a case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, illegal confinement and intimidation
against him. Pawan, a resident of Balmiki Camp in Begampur village, Malviya Nagar, was on May 9
employed by Pathak, who runs a travel agency from the second floor of his C-block office-cum-residence
in New Shivalik. The initial wages were fixed at Rs 2,000. "On June 7, when I went to collect my wages,
Pathak asked me to increase the working hours to 12-hours a day. On this, I asked him to increase my
wages," said Pawan.
On hearing this, Pawan claims that Pathak slapped him repeatedly and took away the Rs 1000 that he
had given him before. (Indian Express 12.6.03)

14TH June
A case for job guarantee law (14)
JAIPUR, JUNE 13. The demand for enactment of an employment guarantee law in Rajas-than was once
again raised here today in the wake of the severe drought eroding the economic foundation of villages and
shattering the rural populace. The number of unemployed man-days in the villages has increased from 11
crores in 1987-88 to 16 crores now. The Akaal Sangharsh Samiti — an umbrella body of several
non-Government, voluntary and civil rights organisations — took out a rally of villagers on the roads of
Jaipur and staged a demonstration at Statue Circle, near the State Secretariat here, to demand convening
of a special session of the Assembly and pass the Rural Employment Guarantee Act and implement food
security. The participants, drawn from several drought-affected districts, said the employment
opportunities in the villages had been consistently shrinking and the drought relief works had failed to
provide support to them due to "mismanagement, inept handling and lack of planning". Among others, the
noted social activist, Aruna Roy, and economist, Jean Dreze, addressed the gathering. (Hindu 14.6.03)

15th June
Debt of Rs 2,300 turns man into slave (14)
Mumbai, June 14: Vishwanath Shende of Chandrapur served six years of bonded labour for a loan he
took to get his son married. He took the loan of Rs 2,300 from the village's well-off farmer Mohammad Ali
Asgarali Sayad. The Human Rights Commission recently requested the state labour department and the
district magistrate of Chandrapur, Mr J.P. Gupta, to free Mr Shende. In its recommendations, the
commission said: "The state should take necessary steps to issue a release certificate to Mr. Vishwanath
and his family under the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976, so that he is freed from the liability
to pay bonded debt to Mohammad Ali Asgarali Sayad." The SHRC subsequently said the government
should take "such action as may be necessary to eradicate the enforcement of forced labour." Vishwanath
was garlanded by his villagers on Firday. He said, "I have finally got justice. I was humiliated by Sayad but
I kept fighting." (Asian Age 15.6.03)

16th June
Delhi labour court annuls DTC conductor dismissal (14)
New Delhi, June 15: Twelve years after an employee of Delhi Transport Corporation was chargesheeted
for "misconduct," a labour court in Delhi has dismissed an application by the department seeking to
approve its action of terminating his services. "The department has failed to prove the alleged misconduct
of the respondent as no passenger witnesses were produced," presiding officer P.S. Teji said in his order.
The incident dates back to 1991 when Bal-wan Singh, a conductor on the Delhi-Jammu route, was
chargesheeted by DTC on the the ground that 10 passengers were allegedly having tickets of lesser
amount though they had paid full fare to him.
DTC alleged that Singh not only refused to give "way-bill" to checking staff, but injured one of them by
biting. The conductor then denied the complaint book to the staff and tore the statement given by
passengers, the DTC charged. Holding Singh guilty of misconduct, DTC's disciplinary authority had
removed him from service, remitted one month's salary to him by way of money order and filed an
application under Section 33(2)(b) of Industrial Disputes Act for approval of its action. (Asian Age 16.6.03)

18th June
NCW recruitment order stayed (14)
NEW DELHI, JUNE 17. The Delhi High Court has issued notices to the Union Ministry of Human
Resources Development (HRD) and the National Commission for Women (NCW) on a petition by thirteen
casual employees of the Commission seeking regularisation of their services. Taking notice of the petition
filed by Surat Singh on behalf of the employees, Justice Vijender Jain asked the respondents to file replies
to the petition by August 23. Justice Jain also stayed an order issued by the NCW for recruiting fresh
people for seven vacant posts of various ranks when Dr. Singh submitted that the order was in violation of
an earlier Delhi High Court order in which the Commission had been asked to consider these employees
for regularisation in case of vacancies.
Dr. Singh submitted that when these employees had earlier approached the High Court for regularisation
of their services, counsel for the Commission had submitted before the court
that it had seven vacancies in the Group IV category of services. Following the submission by the
Commission, the High Court had on May 7, 2001, asked it to take appropriate action and consider these
employees for these posts within six months of the order but the Commission in total disregard of the
order issued an order this past April for taking fresh people on the vacant posts on deputation basis, Dr.
Singh submitted. (Hindu 18.6.03)

Companies can now hire Indians for jobs in Iraq (14)
New Delhi, June 17: INDIAN WORKERS can now take up jobs in Iraq as the Government has lifted the
ban imposed on their movement there after the US-led war. To begin with, recruiting firms in Kuwait taking
up projects in Iraq were permitted to hire Indian workers. Now, Iraqi firms recognised by the Indian diplo-
matic mission there would be permitted to engage Indians directly, Labour Minister Sahib Singh Verma
said on Tuesday. The removal of restrictions on the movement of Indian workers to Iraq is expected to
result in large-scale migration of skilled workers as Indian workers are preferred in the Middle East.
Talking to news persons after his return from the 91st session of the ILO, the Labour Minister said he had
suggested the setting up of an International Skill Development Fund under the ILO. (Hindustan Times
18.6.03)

19th June
Workers’ bill faces another hurdle (14)
New Delhi: THE UNORGANISED Sector Workers' Bill seems to have no takers. While the Finance
Ministry has refused to loosen its purse string, the Law Ministry feels the proposed legislation has "serious
problems of implementation". The much-hyped bill, which has been projected time and again by Labour
Minister Sahib Singh Verma as a piece of legislation that would herald an era Of social security for
workers in the unorganised sector, is lying with the Law Ministry after the draft was sent to it for a second
time about 10 days back. There is absence of interministerial consensus with both Law and Finance
Ministries raising serious objections to the Labour Ministry's initiative and the Planning Commission saying
that the workers instead of getting any benefits might even "end up in losing their own contributions",
sources said. The Law Ministry in its comment on the proposed legislation had expressed its doubt as to
how such a centrally created mechanism could by itself deal with dispensing labour protection including
social security to 367 million unorganised sector workers which were dispersed all over the country. "The
bill, if enacted into a law, may be an addition to the Statute Book but with serious problems of
implementation because of which the stated objectives may not be achieved," the Law Ministry had
remarked while returning the bill last time. (Pioneer 19.6.03)

22nd June
Cost-cut axe on Centre office (14)
About 250 employees of a Central government office at Nizam Palace will be rendered jobless as the
Union government has decided to close down the office. The office of the development commissioner for
iron and steel has received a memorandum communicating the Centre's decision to shut shop with
immediate effect. The ministry of steel, in a memorandum on May 23, has stated that "in consideration of
the recommendations of the expenditure reforms commission set up by the ministry of finance, it has been
decided that the office of the development commissioner for iron and steel would be closed down with
immediate effect and the staff therein rendered surplus". It is learnt that the Union finance ministry had set
up the expenditure reforms commission to identify Central government offices under various ministries
which had lost relevance. The finance ministry will close down such offices to save on government
expenses. Following the finance ministry's decision, the expenditure reforms committee had
recommended the closure of the Calcutta office. (Telegraph 22.6.03)

25th June
Maid thrashed by employer (14)
New Delhi: A 16-year-old girl who worked as a domestic help was allegedly beaten up by her employer, a
psychiatrist, and kept in illegal confinement for eight days in southwest Delhi. The girl has been admitted
in a private nursing home with multiple fractures. Deputy commissioner of police (west) Satish Golcha
said: "We are looking into the case." The victim, Marila Dungdung, is associated with a placement agency,
Alpha Health Society and had been working at the doctor's residency in Dwarka. Marila is from Ranchi.
The doctor had allegedly asked the agency to take the girl back on Tuesday. Marila's colleague in the
agency Asha said, "She was unconscious. There were blood marks all over her body. She told me the
family would beat her up on any pretext." The wife of the accused is a nurse with a private hospital. "A few
days back, both of them asked her to wash clothes at 12 in the night. Marila, however, fell asleep for
which she was beaten up," said Asha. The agency took her to Dayanand Hospital in Punjabi Bagh. "It's
apparent that she was mercilessly beaten up. She has five fractures; she is badly injured in an eye. It
seems she was hit by an iron rod," said Dr Pradeep Mittal, who is treating the victim. (Times of India
25.6.03)

28th June
TN Govt., employees talks fail (14)
CHENNAI, JUNE 27. Talks between the Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, and key State employees unions,
ended in a stalemate today, despite the Government announcing full payment of dearness allowance hike
and gratuity in cash. After a one-and-half-hour discussion with over 30 representatives of unions, the Chief
Minister conceded four of their demands involving an additional expenditure of Rs.515.84 crores, but
turned down their main plea for rolling back cuts in pension and commutation benefits. Hence, the
JACTTEO-GEO and COTA-GEO, umbrella organisations, comprising at least 90 unions, decided to stick
to their plan of an indefinite strike from luly 2. Later, Ms. Jayalalithaa, in a statement, announced that the
one per cent DA impounded last year in the Provident Fund would be released with effect from July 1. The
three per cent hike in DA announced in the Assembly for this year would also be given from next month. In
effect, the 12.5 lakh employees, including teachers, would get a pay hike ranging from Rs. 120,to Rs. 800
from July 1 and the cash strapped government would spend an additional Rs 255.71 crores annually.
Hindu 28.6.03)

2ND July
Strike begins in Secretariat (14)
CHENNAI, JULY 1. Within hours of the midnight arrest of key government staff union leaders in Tamil
Nadu, several employees in the Secretariat and other government complexes walked out of their offices
and plunged into a protest. For the first time since the Essential Services Maintenance Act was enacted in
Tamil Nadu in September last, the police invoked its stringent provisions and detained at least 22 leaders
of the JACTTEO-GEO and COTA-GEO, a federation of staff and teachers' unions, last night and today to
put down the indefinite strike called for tomorrow. The union functionaries arrested for inciting the strike
would be soon suspended from service and if convicted under the ESMA, which provides for a maximum
of three-year imprisonment or a Rs. 5000-fine or both, they would be dismissed, the Government said, in
a press release. Those who coerced staff members and teachers to join the strike would be booked under
the ESMA, it warned. But the arrests triggered a wave of protests in government offices in Chennai and
other parts of the State, especially in the Secretariat, where the strike began today itself. Immediately after
offices opened at 10 a.m., members of various Secretariat unions particularly the Tamil Nadu Secretariat
Staff Association, switched off fans and lights and asked the staff members to assemble in front of the
Namakkal Kavignar Maligai. Within an hour, at least 5,000 women and men squatted on the portico and
raised slogans against the Government's "repressive measures" against the union leaders, who were only
protesting a cut in pension benefits. (Hindu 2.7.03)

6th July
About 100,000 employees lose their jobs in TN (14)
Chennai, July 5: The Tamil Nadu government has terminated the services of thousands of its employees
and teachers as their strike seeking restoration of financial benefits entered the fourth day on Saturday.
Lists of the sacked staff are being pasted on the doors of their respective office doors, sending shock
waves across the 12.5 lakh workforce in the state, many of whom appeared eager to get back to work for
fear of losing their livelihood. A police source said close to a lakh employees have been terminated since
Friday, when the government decided to get tough and promulgated an ordinance amending the Essential
Services Maintenance Act arming itself with powers to dismiss employees participating in strikes. About
2,200 employees, including many women, have been arrested under Esma over the last three days for
allegedly obstructing their colleagues from going to work, the source said. Meanwhile, some of the staff
unions have announced withdrawal from the strike provided the government rescinded the termination
orders against the employees and resumed dialogue for resolving the dispute. The unions petitioned the
Madras high court challenging the Esma amendment ordinance as being unconstitutional. They argued
that it was illegal for the government to terminate its staff by pasting dismissal orders on office doors.
(Asian Age 6.7.03)

9th July
Firms given a month to pay up PF dues (14)
New Delhi: Union labour minister Sahib Singh on Tuesday fell short of his recent promise that he would
reveal the names of companies, both in the private and public sectors, which have defaulted in making
provident fund deposits. Giving an outline of 'Compliance-04', a programme to recover PF dues, he said
action will be taken against defaulting companies if they do not pay up the dues within a month. But he
admitted that of the total dues of Rs 1,511.79 crore, only Rs 331.62 crore can be realised. The remaining
amount — Rs 1,180.17 crore — is locked in litigation, BIFR and in companies that have got liquidated.
Singh said that if recovery and complance is enhanced the Employees Provident Fund Organisation would
be able to maintain the present 9.5 per cent rate of interest next year too. Talking tough – we have run out
 of patience and companies should better follow rules –(Times of India 9.7.03)

10th July
Scheme for conservancy workers (14)
NEW DELHI, JULY 9. The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has allocated Rs. 40 crores for
liberation and rehabilitation of conservancy workers under the National Scheme of Liberation and
Rehabilitation of Scavengers during the current financial year. The scheme aims at relieving these
workers and their dependents from their traditional occupation of manually lifting night soil, and engage
them in dignified occupations. The Centre has released Rs. 712.14 crores since 1991-92 for the
purpose. Of an estimated 6.76 lakh conservancy workers in the country, the Ministry claims to
have rehabilitated four lakhs. The scheme provides for training of these workers for six months at
institutes run by the Centre and State Governments, local bodies and non-governmental organisations.
They are provided a monthly stipend of Rs. 500, training fee of Rs. 300 a month and a tool kit allowance of
Rs. 2,OOO.The Centre bears the cost of the training. (Hindu 10.7.03)

Has there been application of mind, asks CJ (14)
CHENNAI, JULY 9. "Where is the application of mind when about four lakh government servants have
been ' summarily dismissed?", asked the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, B. Subhashan Reddy,
before reserving orders today on a batch of petitions , challenging the validity of the Tamil Nadu Essential
Services Maintenance Act. The First Bench, which included Justice K. Govindarajan, reserved its orders
without mentioning a date, after hearing submissions by the Advocate-General, N. R. Chandran; the
senior counsel, K. Chandru, Nalini Chidambaram, T.R. Rajagopal and N.G.R. Prasad, besides the
advocates R. Vaigai, R. Viduthalai, P. Wilson and S.M. Subramaniam. During arguments, the Chief
Justice .asked the Advocate-General: "Was there a single case where an employee was given a
punishment which was less than 'dismissal?". The AG replied in the negative, and " I said stringent action
was necessitated by the strikers holding the 'Government to ransom'. "Maybe, but not all four lakh
employees could have committed "misconduct" of the same degree. Many hundreds could have been
prevented from attending office by others," Mr. Justice Reddy said. Mr. Chandran said that out of about
9.47 lakh employees, only 1,69,670 had been dismissed, and claimed that rest of the government
servants were working. (Hindu 10.7.03)

11th July
TN strike still on, but staff hand in apology (14)
Chennai, July 10: Even as the "indefinite" strike by the Tamil Nadu government employees entered the
ninth day on Thursday, several hundreds of the dismissed staff handed over their letters of apology for
absenting themselves on the opening day of the agitation, July 2, and pleading for re-instatement. The
Madras High Court heard petitions from the employees unions challenging the amendment to the
Essential Services Maintenance Act, under which about four lakh staff members have been dismissed for
participating in the strike. The first bench headed by Chief Justice B. Subhashan Reddy reserved orders
after asking the counsels to present written arguments. Justice Reddy has asked the Advocate General
N.R. Chandran why such a mass dismissal of employees was resorted to and if the workers were served
notices seeking explanations before the extreme punishment was dealt to them. ((Asian Age 11.7.03)

Private workers to get Shram Awards (14)
New Delhi, July 10: WORKERS FROM the private sector are to be brought within the ambit of the Prime
Minister's Shram Awards. Presently, selection of the awardees is confined to workmen of the
departmental undertakings, Public Sector Units and others controlled by the Centre. A decision to this
effect was taken here on Thursday by the Union Cabinet. Under the new scheme, those employed in
private manufacturing units with at least 500 employees on its rolls will also be eligible for the Shram
Awards. That apart, the Cabinet increased the number of awards from 17 to 33. It has added Shram
Virangna to the Shram Vir category to encourage women workforce towards greater productive
excellence. This year's awards are to be announced on the eve of the Independence Day (August 15).
(Hindustan Times 11.7.03)
12th July
Dismissal of T.N. Govt. staff not infraction: High Court (14)
CHENNAI, JULY 11. Declining to come to the rescue of about 1.7 lakh Government employees
summarily dismissed from service en masse for striking work on July 1 and 2, the Madras High Court
today ruled that the dismissals did not amount to "infraction of any fundamental right". Declaring as not
maintainable a batch of 11 petitions from various staff unions challenging the validity of the Tamil Nadu
Essential Services Maintenance Act arid a subsequent ordinance dispensing with pre-decisional hearing
to strikers, the First Bench asked the aggrieved employees to approach either the State Administrative
Tribunal or use an appeal provision found in the ordinance. "It is open to the aggrieved parties to file
application before the appropriate authority indicated under the impugned ordinance for revocation of
the punishments inflicted on them. (Hindu 12.7.03)

HC orders release of govt. employees (14)
CHENNAI, JULY 11: lt was an anxious wait all through the day for lakhs of State government employees
and teachers. They had to wait till late in the evening for the First Bench of the Madras High Court to
deliver the verdict in the case of mass dismissal and arrest of the
employees. And in the end, it turned out to be what they called "disappointing". Except the order for
release of the arrested employees, there was little 'relief for the strikers. With the key leaders still in prison
and expected to be released only on Saturday morning, members of various associations went into a
huddle around 8 p.m. to evolve a strategy. But there was little they could do at the week-end. A key
functionary of a federation said they had at least "a couple of options" and a final decision would be taken
after the arrested leaders were released. Political leaders were more cautious and wanted the
Government to reconsider its dismissal order. (Hindu 12.7.03)

Teachers’ suicides haunt Karnataka (14)
Bangalore: CLOSE ON the heels of a primary school teacher committing suicide a couple of days ago in
Tumkur district, another primary school teacher on Thursday allegedly committed suicide following
apprehension that she would lose her job. This came in the wake of the Supreme Court judgement, which
struck down the appointment of over 4,000 Government employees, who were appointed on the basis of
rural weightage. Following the Supreme Court order, 26 civil judges recruited on rural weightage basis,
were discharged from duties on Tuesday. Ms Bharathi Nayak, a primary school teacher of Bhatkal taluk in
Uttara Kannada district, jumped into a well near her house, as she reportedly feared that she would lose
her job. She is survived by a one-year-old child. Another teacher T H Chandrappa (35), of Huliyurdurga
taluk in Tumkur district, had allegedly committed suicide by hanging, on the apprehension that he would
lose his job. As the body of the teacher was cremated without informing the police, it has led to doubts
about the nature of death. (Pioneer 12.7.03)

13th July
CPI, CPI(M) demand scrapping of T.N. ordinance (14)
NEW DELHI, JULY 12. The CPI and the CPI (M) today condemned the "unprecedented repression"
unleashed by the Tamil Nadu Government on its employees who went on strike and demanded the
immediate scrapping of the ESMA ordinance it used against them. Referring to the AIADMK Government
promulgating an ordinance which amended the Tamil Nadu Essential Services Maintenance Act, the
parties said in a joint statement that under this any appointing authority could summarily dismiss an
employee who was deemed to have participated in the strike. No notice need be served and mass
dismissal orders could be issued. The parties said that under this "draconian" provision, nearly 1.7
lakh employees had been dismissed so far. "The Tamil Nadu ordinance is a grave attack on the
employees' basic rights to security 'in employment. Such an authoritarian and anti-democratic law
should not go unchallenged. The law is a threat to the trade union and democratic movement." (Hindu
13.7.03)

Protest planned (14)
NEW DELHI, JULY 12. Central trade unions will observe July 16 as Solidarity Day in support of the Tamil
Nadu Government employees and teachers who have been dismissed from service for participating in the
 strike to protest against the curtailment of pensionary benefits. Appealing to trade unions across the
country to hold gate meetings that day against what the "highhanded" action of the Tamil Nadu
Government and demanding the reinstatement of all the employees, a joint statement issued here by the
trade unions urged the State Government to begin negotiations with the representatives of the striking em-
ployees to resolve outstanding issues. The statement was issued by the           All-India Trade Union
Congress, the Centre for Indian Trade Unions, the All-India Central Council of Trade Union, the Trade
Union Coordination Council, the UTUC, the UTUC (LS) and the Hind Mazdoor Sabha. ( Hindu 13.7.03)

14th July
TN trade unions to approach Supreme Court (14)
CHENNAI, JULY 13. Although the Federation of JACTTEO-GEO-COTA-GEO has decided                      t not to
appeal in the Supreme Court against a Madras High Court order dismissing pleas challenging the Tamil
Nadu Essential Services Maintenance Act, major trade unions in the State today resolved to challenge the
verdict in the apex court. The DMK-affiliated Labour Progressive Federation, the CITU and the AITUC will
file appeals against the High Court order by Tuesday, say the union leaders. P. Chidambaram, Congress
Jananayaka Pervai leader, will challenge the validity of the Act in the Supreme Court. Leaders of many
employees unions felt that any appeal against the High Court order would serve no purpose, as it would
only lead to a prolonged legal battle. Already employees suffered mental
agony for the last 10 days and they did not have the physical strength to continue the battle anymore, that
too against a government which was bent on "crushing the workers' movement". (Hindu 14.7.03)

15th July
Sacked TN employees seek Jaya’ pardon (14)
Chennai, July 14: Biting dust, literally, the unions representing 12.5 lakh government staff and teachers on
Monday petitioned chief minister Jayalalitha to "set aside all the past bitterness" and reinstate on
"humanitarian grounds" the over two lakh employees dismissed for participating in the "indefinite" strike
that had brought the administration to a near stand-still.
The unions have already called off the strike, which had begun on July 2, and are now pleading with
the government for "unconditional talks" to resolve their issues. The union leaders, released from
ESMA detentions late on Sunday, met chief secretary Lakshmi Pranesh and finance secretary
Narayanan at the secretariat on Monday morning to hand over copies of their petitions to the chief
minister. The two top bureaucrats heard the 46-strong delegation for barely five minutes and said the
decision on their petitions rested with the chief minister. Ms Jayalalitha held a meeting of some of her
ministers and officials at the secretariat late evening but the agenda was not disclosed to the media. While
the state information department pleaded ignorance, sources said the staff strike did not figure in the
"informal" discussions. Hundreds of dismissed employees knocked on their office doors across Tamil
Nadu, with letters of apology but were turned back by superiors. (Asian Age 15.7.03)

16th July
Apex court directive to States on bonded labourers (14)
NEW DELHI, JULY 15. The Supreme Court today directed 11 States to file status reports before the
National Human Rights Commission on bonded labourers within four weeks to enable the Commission to
formulate measures for their rehabilitation. A Bench comprising Justice Ruma Pal and Justice P.
Venkatarama Reddi issued notice to Haryana, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra
Pradesh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Uttaranchal after pursuing the
Commission's report. Amicus curiae A.K. Ganguly brought to the notice of the court that in its report of
March 27 the Commission had stated that 11 of the 16 States from which reports were called for had not
complied. "The Commission notes with dismay that Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu,
Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh have not bothered to give any reply till date," the report said.Further, it
said that Kerala, Gujarat and Uttaranchal regularly asserted that the problem of bonded labour did not
exist in their States. (Hindu 16.7.03)

SC moved against dimissal of T.N. Govt. employee (14)
NEW DELHI, JULY 15. The Tamil Nadu State Transport Employees Federation today moved the
Supreme Court challenging a judgment of the Madras High Court refusing to entertain petitions against
the mass dismissal of Government employees. The special leave petition (SLP) seeking to set aside the
July 11 judgment, filed through advocate, S.R. Setia is to be "mentioned" before the Chief Justice
tomorrow for immediate hearing. The Federation by its vice-president, T.K. Rangarajan, in its SLP said the
case arose out of an extraordinary situation of dismissals of Government servants in lakhs by invoking an
ordinance passed with retrospective effect. By virtue of the ordinance, a new section was introduced in the
Tamil Nadu Essential Services Maintenance Act (TNESMA), 2002, according to which those who
absented from duty were deemed to have participated in the strike and admitted his/her "misconduct"
knowingly warranting the punishment of dismissal from service without conducting any enquiry. Invoking
this ordinance about 1.70 lakh employees were dismissed from service after preventing them from joining
duty. (Hindu 16.7.03)

End to crisis not in sight (14)
CHENNAI, JULY 15. The crisis over the dismissal of thousands of government employees in Tamil Nadu
showed no sign of ending early, as key employees' unions failed to get an appointment with 'the Chief
Minister, Jayalalithaa, for the second day today. The federation of JACTTEO-GEO and COTA-GEO, which
had launched an aborted strike, desperately beseeched the Chief Minister's Office for an audience, but
there was no favourable response till this evening. As the Chief Minister did not come to the Secretariat
today and as she is expected to leave for Namakkal tomorrow, an early end to the agony of over two lakh
dismissed employees appears nowhere in sight. With no word from the Chief Minister's Office, the
JACTTEO-GEO and COTA-GEO leaders called of a strategy session they had convened for this evening.
Though a majority of the employees have filed appeals against their dismissals before the "appointing
authorities" as per the provisions of the recently-amended Tamil Nadu Essential Services Maintenance
Act, none of the written pleas has been scrutinised so far. (Hindu 16.7.03)

23.79% rise in retrenchment of worker (14)
New Delhi: IN WHAT may appear to be a further confirmation of the growing joblessness in the country,
the Labour Bureau has found that there has been massive increase in the retrenchment of workers, lay-
offs and closure of industries in 2001 as compared to the previous year. According to the latest survey by
the Labour Bureau of the Ministry of Labour, while the retrenchment of workers in 2001 increased by
23.79 per cent, the cases of lay-offs rose by 12.92 per cent and the closure of industries grew by 9.42 per
cent over the previous year. The grim findings of the Labour Bureau are in contrast to the claims being
made by the Government on employment generation. The Labour Bureau survey noted that in the year
2001, there were a total of 133 cases of retrenchments in which 3,668 workers were affected. "This
reflects an increase of 22.02 per cent in the number of cases of retrenchments and an increase of 23.79
per cent in the number of workers retrenched over the previous year," it said. (Pioneer 16.7.03)

19th July
Sacked staff asked to appear for enquiry (14)
CHENNAI, JULY 18-Providing a gleam of hope to thousands of government employees in Tamil Nadu,
summarily sacked for participating in a recent strike, the Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, today gave the
go-ahead for officials to "immediately" scrutinise review petitions filed by the staff against their dismissals.
The petitions should be considered "at once" following the "due procedure and principles of natural
justice," she told officials at the Secretariat here this afternoon. Within hours of the much-awaited
directive, the Government Secretaries began processing the piles of petitions lying in their offices for over
a week now.
Individual notices were served on the sacked staff, directing them to appear in person before the
"appointing authorities" on a specified date to explain with proof their absence during the strike period. At
the Secretariat, the anguished staff swarmed the offices of department Secretaries to receive the notices,
while for others, the notices were sent by registered post. (Hindu 19.7.03)

VRS for train drivers (14)
NEW DELHI, JULY 18. The Railway Minister, Nltish Kumar, today announced measures to enhance
safety and prevent rail accidents occasioned by human and other failures and extraneous factors. These
include a Voluntary Retirement Scheme for drivers and gangmen. At his first press conference after the
Sama-ta Party crisis blew over, the Minister said that apart from formulating and Implementing a 10-year
comprehensive Corporate Railway Safety Plan covering 2003-2013, the Railways would do its bit to deal
with the problem of sabotage and damage to the railway property by militants and other miscreant
resulting in accidents.
Mr. Kumar said the Railways would seek the active cooperation of the State Governments in protecting its
property and tracks from the dangers posed by militant groups and others who might target them. Though
protecting government property was the responsibility of the States under whose jurisdiction it were sit-
uated, the Railways would also mobilise its resources to prevent damage to its property leading to
accidents as was recommended by one of the Railway Safety Review Committees. (Hindu 19.7.03)

Change in stand on employment scheme draws flak (14)
JAIPUR, JULY 18. The Akaal Sangharsh Samiti -- an umbrella body of several non-Government and
voluntary organisations in Rajasthan -- today took strong exception to the Congress(I)-led Government's
move to appoint a seven-member committee to determine the implementation process of an employment
guarantee scheme, instead of enacting a legislation for the purpose. The committee, headed by the Addi-
tional Chief Secretary (Finance), was appointed by an administrative order on July 10 to look into the
implementation and monetary aspects of the proposed scheme "in selected blocks" of the State. It will
function under the Rural Development Department with no time-frame fixed for its work.
"The decision falls far short of our demand to introduce a scheme on the Maharashtra pattern and the
State Government's own announcement to enact an employment guarantee law in the Jaipur declaration
released at a high-level social security conference," Aruna Roy, a noted social activist and recipient of the
Magsaysay Award, told reporters here. (Hindu 19.7.03)

TN sacks 3,300 govt teachers (14)
CHENNAI, JULY18: ACADEMIC activity has been crippled at several government and aided arts and sci-
ence colleges in Tamil Nadu following largescale dismissal and suspension of professors who participated
in the strike. Scores of non-teaching staff have also been displaced. According to available statistics, over
3,300 teachers of constituent colleges (erstwhile government colleges) have been sacked under the newly
promulgated Ordinance amending the Tamil Nadu Essential Services Maintenance Act. In
government-aided private colleges, at least 5,000 lecturers and professors have been served suspension
orders invoking provisions of the Tamil Nadu Private Colleges Regulation Act in the last couple of days.
Director of Collegiate Education Muthuveeraganapathy says: "Teachers should have realised their
responsibilities. We have sought written explanations as to why they absented themselves from duty. The
decision will be based on their replies." (Indian Express 19.7.03)

20th July
73 Indians stranded in Libya (14)
New Delhi, July 21: With the arrest of a bogus travel agency owner, a job racket which has left almost 73
Indians stranded in Tripoli, Libya, has been busted by the fraud and cheating section of the economic
offences wing of the Crime Branch of the Delhi police. The accused has been identified as G.P. Sooden,
who ran a bogus travel agency under the name of Glomat Overseas Associates, in East Patel Nagar. He
had been duping employment seekers for almost five years. Like many other bogus manpower agents,
Sooden promised a bright future abroad, assured employment and good money to the 73 unemployed
persons now stranded in Libya. He charged Rs 40,000 to Rs 60,000 from each of them and assured that
every one of them would be provided employment in a so-called reputed concern, Naher-Al-Hayah, for
construction and investment located at P.O. Box No. 14663, Tripoli, Libya. Convinced, all 73 persons,
most of whom hailed from villages of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh paid the amount demanded to
Sooden who even arranged for their air journey. (Asian Age 20.7.03)

22nd July
Unions awaiting Jayalalithaa verdict (14)
CHENNAI, JULY 21. While the Supreme Court suggestion to the Tamil Nadu Government that it take
back sacked staff came as a huge relief to thousands of government employees, the key staff unions,
which spearheaded the recent strike, claimed that they were awaiting "only the Chief Minister,
Jayalalithaa's verdict." As news of the court observation asking the Government to reinstate the
employees trickled in, a group of sacked staff at the Secretariat here, heaved a sigh of relief and jumped
for joy. "Our agony is over. Finally, there is some hope of our getting back lost jobs," said a staff member
in the Public department. However, the stock response from almost all key union leaders, who were
arrested on the eve of the strike was: "We are neither happy nor unhappy." The Tamil Nadu Government
Officials Union leader, G. Suryamurthy, who is leading the peace initiative with the Government, said: "The
unions did not move the Supreme Court. (Hindu 22.7.03)

SC raps T.N. staff but asks Govt. to take them back (14)
NEW DELHI, JULY 21. The Supreme Court today came down heavily on the Tamil Nadu Government
employees for resorting to a strike and "holding the State to ransom' and "bringing the administration to a
grinding halt". It, however, suggested to the State Government to "show magnanimity and grace" and take
back the 1.7 lakh sacked employees on their tendering an unconditional apology for participating in the
"illegal strike" and an undertaking that they would abide by the 'Conduct Rules' in future. A Bench,
comprising Justices M.B. Shah and A.R. Lakshmanan, gave this suggestion to the State's senior counsel,
K.K. Venugopal and P.P. Rao, who sought time till Thursday to take instructions and respond to the
court's suggestions. The Bench wanted the Government to pass orders immediately on these lines without
waiting for the court to pass orders. Mr. Venugopal submitted that the State Government had already
reinstated more than 20,000 employees after scrutinising their representations. When counsel said that
the employees could wait till their representations were considered and disposed of, the Bench said there
was "no question of waiting till the enquiry was over" as that would take time. (Hindu 22.7.03)

23rd July
Exploited Indian maid gets f40,000 (14)
London, July 22: GIRLJA SUJATHA, 31, who was brought from India to work as a maid by a high-earning
English couple, has been awarded nearly £40,000 by a London employment tribunal, on the ground that
she had been exploited, paid less than the minimum wages and made to work long hours. An advice
centre for domestic workers, Kalayaan, had taken up Sujatha's case. The tribunal was told that Annabelle
Manwaring, a director with the Leo'Burnett advertising agency in Chelsea, had brought Sujatha from India
where she used to work for Mrs Manwaring's great aunt. Annabelle's husband Michael works as a
management consultant and the couple has six-figure income and live in a six-bedroom house. Sujatha
used to work in the couple's house in High-gate, north London, from 7 a.m. to 9.30 p.m. seven days a
week. She cooked, cleaned and cared for the couple and their four daughters, aged from five to 17. She
was paid £60 a week (Hindustan Times 23.7.03)

24th July
Bill referred to Ministers’ panel (14)
NEW DELHI, JULY 23. The Cabinet today referred the Unorganised Sector Workers Bill, 2003 to a Group
of Ministers (GoM), headed by the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, to sort out minor irritants. The Bill
seeks to regularise workers in the sector and provide them social security. The members of the GoM are
the Finance, Law, Labour, Petroleum, Agriculture and the Railway Ministers, according to an official
spokesperson. The Bill, likely to be tabled in the Lok Sabha in the current session, was drafted in January
on the recommendations of the Second National Labour Commission that suggested an umbrella
legislation for workers in the unorganised sector. It came up for a debate in the Cabinet. today but a
decision was deferred reportedly due to the huge financial liability involved in its implementation. (Hindu
24.7.03)

Sacked staff won’t get pay for this month (14)
CHENNAI, JULY 23. None of the 1.7 lakh government employees in Tamil Nadu,who were dismissed for
participating in the recent strike, will get their pay for this month. The Government has clearly instructed
the Treasuries and Accounts department not to disburse salaries for the sacked staff. "The drawing
officers shall see that no salary claim is made for the dismissed employees," the Finance department said
in a recent order. The drawing officers should present a certificate to the effect that salary has not been
claimed for the dismissed employees. As for nearly 11 lakh staff members, j who escaped the axe, and
4.90 lakh pensioners, the Government has drawn ' up "alternative arrangements" to clear the I salary and
pension bills in time. With 3,000 staff members in the Treasuries department getting the dismissal orders
and some of the sub-treasuries remaining closed for a few days in districts, the Finance department, has
given the go-ahead for the district treasuries to draw the amount from the "suspense account" and rope in
retired treasury personnel to disburse salaries and pensions in time (Hindu 24.7.03)

25th July
Tamil Nadu to take back all dismissed employees (14)
NEW DELHI, JULY 24: THE Tamil Nadu government will take back all 1.7 lakh dismissed employees
except those against whom cases have been registered. This undertaking was given to the Supreme
Court today by K.K. Venugopal, senior counsel, who appeared for the state. When a two-judge bench
comprising Justice M.B. Shah and Justice AR. Lakshmanan commenced hearing the five petitions
pending before it, Venugopal said the employees will start joining from tomorrow. However, this would be
subject to the employees tendering an unconditional apology and giving a written undertaking that they
would abide by Rule 22 of the TN Government Service Conduct Rules. The bench ruled that there shall be
no break in service in case the employees join duty. They would, however, get their salary only from
tomorrow. It said that in an order to be passed on July 31 it would deal with the ways to reconcile the
absence from duty in the service records without it being construed as a break in the service. Venugopal
submitted that the process of enquiry had commenced and applications would be looked into. And during
this period the government would pay the employees subsistence allowance. The counsel told the court
that of the 1.7 lakh employees almost a lakh had been instigated, incited and forced to join strike. "Their
offices were locked by their colleagues," he said. (Indian Express 25.7.03)

26th July
12,000 TN staff members get only FIR (14)
CHENNAI, JULY 25. After a 24-day ordeal, over 1.6 lakh dismissed State government employees rejoined
work today, but at least 12,000 staff members were served only copies of first information reports and not
reinstatement orders. Most of the 3,041 dismissed staff members at the Secretariat here, and about 5,000
sacked employees in other government offices in Chennai, besides 4,000 in the districts, were not allowed
to rejoin as cases had been registered against them under Section 4 (participating in strike) or Section 5
(inciting strike) or both of the Essential Services Maintenance Act. The Secretariat staff were the prime
target as they had plunged into the strike on July 1, one day ahead of the other government employees
launching the protest. They were told that FIRs had been lodged against not just the jailed staff but almost
all dismissed Secretariat employees. They were asked to wait till July 28, when the appeals against their
dismissals would be heard by the appointing officials. (Hindu 26.7.03)

1st Aug
Take back all except 5,000: SC (14)
NEW DELHI, JULY 3i.The Supreme Court today asked the Tamil Nadu Government to consider taking
back for work all staff members, except nearly 5,000 dismissed employees who were arrested and those
against whom first information reports had been lodged for indulging in violence during the recent strike. A
Bench comprising Justice M.B. Shah and Justice A.R. Lakshmanan granted time till Tuesday for senior
counsel for the State, K.K. Venugopal, to take instructions and report to the court. Counsel submitted that
out of 1.76 lakh dismissed employees, 1.55 lakhs, viz. 91 per cent, were reinstated pursuant to the court
orders. Only 14,526 employees, including 2,211 who had been arrested, were not taken back as they had
indulged in violence and instigated other employees to go on strike. P. Chidambaram, senior counsel,
appearing for;the DMK MP, C. Kuppusami, disputed the figure and said it did not include about 16,000
employees, including aided school and college teachers and those working in local bodies. (Hindu 1.8.03)

Parties skip Jan Manch on job guarantee (14)
JAIPUR, JULY 31. Political parties shied away from a public meeting on the Employment Guarantee Act
organised by various activist groups under the banner of Akal Sangarsh Samiti here on Wednesday.
Barring the Janata Dal (Secular) no party, including the Congress, and the main Opposition BJP sent their
representative to the "Jan Manch" at the Statue Circle here. In the end as they wound up in time before
the day-long drizzle became a downpour in the evening, the gathering, representing 57 grass root
organisations from different districts, vowed to raise the issue in ward sabhas and at the Assembly
elections. "We had invited all parties and they had promised to sent their representatives," informed Nikhil
Dey of the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan. "In the Congress, we spoke to the PCC President, Girija
Vyas and she had responded positively to the suggestion but no one came today," he noted, regretting the
lack ol commitment on the part of parties on such a crucial issue. "Every party, including the Left, have
been contacted but this is their commitment," he lamented. The Akal Sangarsh Samiti, which has been
both fighting for employment to the drought-affected and for a regular guaranteed employment as in the
case of Maharashtra, has already got prepared a draft Bill for the proposed Act. (Hindu 1.8.03)
6th Aug
All but 6,072 employees to be taken back (14)
NEW DELHI, AUG. 5. Heeding Supreme Court advice, the Tamil Nadu Government today agreed to take
back all but 6,072 sacked staff members, who included the arrested and those who indulged in violence
and instigated other employees to go on strike in the first week of July.
A Bench, comprising Justice M.B. Shah and Justice A.R. Lakshmanan, however, asked senior counsel for
the State, K.K. Venugopal, to treat 2,749 employees (2,215 Secretariat staff members and 534 officers
holding a higher position) as having been 'suspended', instead of treating them as 'dismissed', and the
Government responded that it would do so. Responding to the court's suggestion last week to restrict the
number of employees not to be reinstated to 5,000, Mr. Venugopal informed the Bench that out of
1,70,241 employees dismissed, 1,56,106 were taken back and 14,135 were not reinstated. However, the
Government was prepared to reinstate another 8,063 employees but not the 6,072 employees, including
2,211 arrested and 1,112 (other than Secretariat staff) persons involved in instigating other employees to
participate in the strike, as they could not claim any right to be reinstated. (Hindu 6.8.03)

Workers lay siege to FACT division (14)
KOCHI, AUG. 5. Employees of the Fertilizers and Chemicals Travancore (FACT) went on a flash strike
and laid a siege to the petrochemicals division of the company at Udyogamandal today in a bid to stop
inspection of the facilities by a team of officials from the Indo-Gulf Fertilizer Corporation. Police and CISF
personnel resorted to a mild lathicharge on two occasions to control the nearly 1,000-strong group of
workers who shouted slogans and entered into verbal spats with the police.The protests began at about 7.
30 a.m. as news spread about the arrival of the Irido-Gulf team at the petrochemicals division. By 8 a.m.,
the gathering of workers swelled and they tried to storm into the premises of the petrochemicals division.
The police and security personnel foiled their attempts. The leader of the Save FACT Action Committee
and AITUC district secretary, Vijayan Pillai, said that four of the workers received severe lathi blows in the
melee. However, no one was reported to have been admitted to any hospital. (Hindu 6.8.03)

7th Aug
Strike not your right any more: SC to govt staff (14)
NEW DELHI, AUGUST 6: A day            after   it forced the Tamil Nadu Government to reinstate 1.65 lakh
employees who had been dismissed for going on strike, the Supreme Court today delivered a strongly
deterrent ruling that government employees do not have "a legal or fundamental or equitable right" to go
on strike whatever the cause, "just or unjust." Instead, they have to "adopt alternative methods for
redressal of their grievances," a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justice M B Shah and
Justice Ar Lakshmanan ruled while disposing a batch of six petitions challenging the en masse dismissal
of 1.7 lakh employees by the Tamil Nadu government. Even trade unions, the judges said, have the right
of collective bargaining but that does not mean they have a right to strike. "Government employees cannot
claim that they can hold the society to ransom. Even if there is injustice to some extent, they have to resort
to the machinery provided under different statutory provisions for redressal of their grievances. Strike as a
weapon is mostly misused. (Indian Express 7.8.03)

A shocking verdict: trade unions (14)
CHENNAI, AUG. 6. While major government employees' unions in the State hailed the Supreme Court
order paving the way for reinstatement of thousands of sacked staff members, trade unions said it was
shocking that the court had held strikes illegal. After the Supreme Court delivered its much-awaited verdict
on the mass dismissal of employees who participated in the recent strike, leaders of the JACTTEO-GEO,
which had called the aborted strike, held an emergency meeting and thanked the court and the Chief
Minister, Jayalalithaa, for agreeing to take back thousands of employees. Hailing the "portion" of the court
order which enabled reinstatement of the sacked employees, they however, said the ruling declaring
strikes illegal had to be "studied". They also appealed to the Chief Minister to take steps for dropping
cases against the remaining 6,000 employees, and reinstate them. (Hindu 7.8.03)

8th Aug
A judicial assault on workers’ rights: CPI (14)
NEW DELHI, AUG. 7. The Communist Party of India (CPI) today sought a review of the ruling that
•Government employees have no fundamental, legal, moral or equitable right to go on strike by a full
bench of the Supreme Court. In a statement, the CPI Central Secretariat described the ruling as a "judicial
assault" on the democratic rights of workers and employees who had won those rights, including the right
to strike, through more than a hundred years of sacrifices and bitter struggles in India and abroad.
Referring to the judgment that states that employees have to resort to the machinery provided under
different statutory provisions for the purpose of redressal of their grievances, the party wondered: "What
happens when the authorities arbitrarilv and unilaterally deprive the employees of long existing benefits
and facilities and then refuse to have any talk or negotiation with associations and unions which exist
under legal provision and also the Constitutional right to Freedom of Association ? The party also wanted
to know whether the workers were to accept the "arbitrary actions mutely and submissively and do some
more work more honestly, diligently and efficiently, in the hope that the gesture will be appreciated by the
authorities sometimes in the future?" (Hindu 8.8.03)

9th Aug
TN Govt. reinstates 8063 staff memers (14)
CHENNAI, AUG. 8. In keeping with the undertaking given to the Supreme Court three days ago, the Tamil
Nadu Government today ordered reinstatement of 8,063 ousted employees, and placed under suspension
2,215 Secretariat employees and 534 officials, who were dismissed for participating in a recent strike.
"The Government will act according to the court order. And the 8,063 employees would rejoin work from
Monday," the Chief Secretary, Lakshmi Pranesh, told the media, emerging from a meeting with the Chief
Minister, Jayalalithaa, at the Secretariat this afternoon. Among over 14,000 employees facing first
information reports, the Government has ordered reinstatement of only those who were served with FIRs
under Section 4 of the Essential Services Maintenance Act for participating in the strike but who do not
belong to the Secretariat service or officer's grade and were not arrested. The remaining 6,072
employees, who face dismissal or suspension, would have to wait for a verdict from a committee of three
former judges, which is expected to be set up next week. (Hindu 9.8.03)

11th Aug
Court can’t deny right to strike: A-G (14)
ATTORNEY General Soli Sorabjee today came out strongly against the Supreme Court ruling on the right
to strike, saying its observation that government employees have "no moral or equitable right to go on
strike" was "uncalled for and beyond comprehension". "The right to collective bargaining and ancillary right
to strike was an invaluable right of government employees. It has been secured after years of toil and
effort," Sorabjee said. The Attorney General stated that the apex court should only concern itself with legal
and constitutional issues and should not pick on moral and equitable rights of the working class. However,
the Attorney General was in agreement with the Court's view that "no one can dispute that strikes should
not be indiscriminate and resorted to for trivial reasons. And it is undeniable that strikes do cause inconve-
nience to public life and also damage smooth functioning of administration." But taking into account the
working condition prevalent in the country, he warned, "There can be horrendous situations in which the
employees have no effective mechanism for redressal of their grievances and are left with no option but to
resort to strike." (Indian Expresss 11.8.03)

13th Aug
FACT plea to lay off 950 employees quashed (14)
KOCHI, AUG. 12. The Kerala High Court today quashed an application filed by the management of the
Fertilizers and Chemicals (Travancore) Ltd. seeking the permission of the Central Government to lay off
as many as 950 employees. Justice R. Rajendra Babu allowed writ petitions filed by 13 trade unions
challenging the management's action. The State Government had rejected a request by the management
to lay off the employees under Section 25(M)(1) of the Industrial Disputes Act. The management
approached the Central Government with the request in April 2003 after withdrawing a review petition that
was pending before the State Government. The petitioners contended that the Central Government had
no authority to grant permission to lay off employees since the powers under the Act had been delegated
to the State Government. When the management had exercised the option to approach the State
Government, it was bound by the order of the State. The Supreme Court observed that since the Central
Government had delegated power to the State Government under the Industrial Disputes Act, the State
had the concurrent power to consider the request. (Hindu 13.8.03)

T.N. employees’ assns. Lose recognition (14)
CHENNAI, AUG. 12. The State Government has withdrawn recognition to employees associations as they
"violated the provisions of the Tamil Nadu Government Servants Conduct Rules" by conducting
"lunch-hour demonstrations, picketing, token strike and indefinite strike." The Government did not give a
mandatory hearing before withdrawal of recognition. It explained: "According to Rule 6 of the Tamil Nadu
Recognition of Service Association Rules, prior to withdrawal of recognition to service associations, an
opportunity has to be given to them to make a representation against the proposed withdrawal of
recognition. But in this case, the Government has given prior instructions that the conduct of the (July)
indefinite strike will be illegal and violative of the provisions of Sections 4,5 and 6 of the Tamil Nadu
Essential Services Maintenance Act, 2002 and also rules 20,22 and 22A of the Tamil Nadu Government
Servants Conduct Rules, 1974. Ignoring the instructions, the service associations/ organisations have
misguided their members and entered into strike. (Hindu 13.8.03)

14th Aug
De-recognition of T.N. unions arbitrary (14)
NEW DELHI, AUG. 13. The CITU has termed the Tamil Nadu Government's decision to derecognise over
50 unions of its employees under the Tamil Nadu Essential Services Maintenance Act, 2002, as
"arbitrary". In a statement here today, the CITU general secretary, M.K. Pandhe, said the State
Government did not give any opportunity to the unions to explain their views as per rules and this action hit
at the very basis of the concept of freedom of associations and the right to collective bargaining. "By this
unjustified action, die Jaya-lalithaa Government has once again proved its anti-working class character. If
it is allowed to succeed, it will adversely affect under sections of employees as well," Mr. Pandhe said. The
All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU) has also said that "the decision is partisan and against
die established law and democratic norms. The recent ruling of the Supreme Court against the employees
strike in Tamil Nadu has boosted the morale of Ms. Jayalalithaa to take this 'fascist' step of summary
de-recognition of the recognised unions." (Hindu 14.8.03)

20th Aug
SC verdict on strikes a u-turn from 89 order (14)
New Delhi: Though the Supreme Court has held that government employees have no right to go on strike,
its decision goes contrary to what the apex court had ruled 14 years ago. While criticisng the judgment,
attorney-general Soli J Sorabjee recalled the 1989 judgment. It said: "The right to strike is an important
weapon in the armoury of the worker and has been recognised by almost all democratic countries as a
mode of redress for resolving the grievances of workers." Going by the principles of democracy, the
Centre on Tuesday announced in Parliament that it was not considering any proposal to ban strikes. But,
the government added, the rules of conduct bar any government servant from participating in or abetting
any form of strike. "No such proposal is under consideration," minister of state for home Harin Pathak said
when asked whether the government proposed to bring a Bill in Parliament in this regard. Pathak referred
to the conduct rules and said: "No government servant shall resort to or in any way abet any form of strike
or coercion or physical duress in connection with any matter pertaining to his service or the service of any
other government servant." (Times of India 20.8.03)

24th Aug
Union threatens strike against govt move (14)
NEW DELHI, Aug. 23. — The Confederation of Central Government Employees and Workers today
condemned the government's decision to introduce a contributory pension scheme for new entrants and
threatened to go on strike if it was not withdrawan. "The confederation condemns       this anti-employee
decision of the Government of India and demands that the said decision be withdrawan forthwith",
secretary-general of the union, Mr SK Vyas, said. He said that the confederation was of the
view that this was only a precursor of further curtailment of terminal benefits of the Central government
employees such as commutation of pension, gratuity etc. "In the circumstance, the Central government
employees are left with no alternative but to tread the path of agitation and strike in the face of such
onslaught", Mr Vyas said. (Statesman 24.8.03)
25th Aug
Unions want Govt. to challenge SC verdict (14)
NEW DELHI, AUG. 24. Trade union leaders have decided to urge the Government to move the Court to
negate the impact of the Supreme Court verdict on the right to collective bargaining through strike. Some
leaders have also expressed un-happiness that the Government was trying to abdicate its social
responsibility towards providing pension to its employees by creating privately managed pension schemes
bound to be driven by the profit motive. Gurudas Dasgupta, trade union leader of the CPI, today
commented on the Union Cabinet clearing the proposal for a contributory pension scheme to be managed
by the corporate sector. He feared that the provident fund money accruing in these deposits would be
"diverted and spent for other purposes and there would be no guarantee of returns on the investment". His
view was that the Government was simply abandoning its responsibility towards this essential welfare
measure. With repeated lowering of interest rates savings of the working people have been affected, he
said. Trade unions across the political spectrum have decided to follow through their decision to ensure
that the Supreme Court judgment, given in relation to the strike by the Tamil Nadu Government
employees, should be challenged and its impact negated. (Hindu 25.8.03)

ILO asks India to reaffirm trade union rights (14)
NEW DELHI, AUG. 24. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has asked the Government of India to
take urgent steps to reaffirm trade union rights and restore industrial relations in Tamil Nadu. The ILO's
intervention comes in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling denying the Government employees their
right to strike and the Tamil Nadu Government's response to its employees and teachers' demand for
restoration of the curtailed benefits. Copies of the ILO's letter to the Indian authorities were circulated by
the INTUC president, G. Sanjeeva Reddy, at a meeting of the trade unions here. (Hindu 25.8.03)

29th Aug
News law on contract labour in A.P. (14)
HYDERABAD, AUG. 28. A new law liberalising the employment of contract labour in the services sector
without compromising their welfare came into force in Andhra Pradesh last week. It is primarily aimed at
giving a boost to employment generation in the services sector like house-keeping, catering and security,
the laws governing which are not too specific. The Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Amendment
Act is effective from August 22 as the President has given his assent to the legislation after its adoption by
the Assembly earlier this year. A notification bringing the provisions of the Act into force has since been
issued by the Government.
The main feature of the law is the distinction it makes between core and non-core activity in an industry
and the provision to engage contract labour in the latter. Core activity has been defined as 'any activity for
which the establishment is set up.' Ten non-core activities have been specifically identified provided they
are in the nature of support services of an establishment. (Hindu 29.8.03)

50 Oriya labourers rescued from A.P. brick kiln (14)
Bhubaneswar: EVEN AS allegations of yet another starvation death surfaced in Kalahandi, Orissa's peren-
nial hunger zone, 50 migrant labourers from the neighbouring Bolangir district, equally notorious for
poverty and backwardness, were reportedly rescued from a brick kiln in Andhra Pradesh. The kiln owner
Yusuf Khan and a contractor are said to have been arrested by the police which acted following a tip-off.
Sources said that Makrand Majhi, a daily wager from Dumariya panchayat under Bhawanipatna block of
Kalahandi, succumbed to hunger and resultant illness on Wednesday. His wife, Kalawati told a private TV
channel that Makrand's condition had deteriorated for want of proper food. The district administration,
however, is reported to have denied the allegation. Kalahandi is part of the infamous KBK belt, which has
regularly been reporting starvation deaths and incidents of child sale by indigent parents. The area
remains amongst the most backward in the country despite the implementation of a string of anti-poverty
schemes by various Governments. (Pioneer 29.8.03)

1st Sept.
In chains for 16 days … (14)
Kolkata, Aug. 31: Sixteen days of inhuman bondage was what it took him to pay off a Rs 1,600 loan. With
an iron chain cutting into his waist, sixteen-year-old Mohammad Rabiul, a labourer at a leather factory in
Tiljala, was confined to a dingy room on 991 Chaubhaga Road in Tilaja by his former employer, Avijit
Poddar. The creditor's logic was brutally simple — until Rabiul had made bags worth Rs 1,600, he was
well within his rights to keep the teenager chained. Rabiul's nightmare came to an end only on Saturday
after he was rescued by the police. Rabiul, a resident of Kultali, came to Kolkata in search of a job in
2002. He was employed in a leather factory in Til-jala owned by Avijit Poddar, where he made leather
purses. During this time, he borrowed Rs 1,600 from Poddar. A few months ago, he was fired from his job.
He was then employed by another leather factory owned by one Ramen Banerjee. Poddar began to hound
him for his money. Rabiul expressed his inability to refund the money but assured Poddar that he would
pay him back as soon as possible. (Asian Age 1.9.03)

Labour productivity up (14)
New Delhi: THE INTERNATIONAL Labour Organisation (ILO) has found an acceleration in labour
productivity during the second half of 1990s in some western and Asian countries including India.
"Growth in productivity per person employed in the world as a whole accelerated from 1.5 per cent during
the first half of the 1990s to 1.9 per cent in the second half. Most of this growth was concentrated in in-
dustrialised economies (US and some EU countries), plus some in Asia (China, India, Pakistan and
Thailand," a recent ILO report said. Analysing 20 key indicators of the labour market – including
employment, unemployment, under-employment, hours worked, types of economic activity and labour
productivity – the ILO report said people in the Asian countries worked more than their counterparts in the
developed world. (Pioneer 1.9.03)

4TH September
Mobilising labour in S. Asia against hatred (14)
KARACHI, SEPT. 3. Urging the Governments of India and Pakistan to drastically reduce their defence
budgets in order to minimise the risk of an armed conflict, South Asian trade union representatives
pledged to mobilise labour in the region against "all hatred, prejudice and divisions based upon ethnicity,
race, caste, religion or nationalisrft." These were some of the sentiments affirmed in a Karachi Declaration
that concluded the two-day South Asia Labour Conference for Peace in this southern port city of Pakistan.
The meeting, organised jointly by the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (PILER),
Karachi^ and the Centre for Education and Communication (CEC), New Delhi, brought together a large
and representative group of workers' leaders from Pakistan,'India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. They
included men and women from large national federations, heads of specific trade unions, organisers of
the informal sector as well as non-governmental organisations engaged in labour issues. (Hindu 4.9.03)

8th September
Workers can directly go to labour court (14)
NEW DELHI, SEPT. 7. In a major decision that would benefit thousands of workers in the national Capital,
the Delhi Government has amended the Industrial Disputes Act waiving the need to go into conciliation
before approaching the labour court in the event of termination of service. In a recent order, the Delhi
Lieutenant Governor notified the Industrial Disputes (Delhi Amendment) Act, 2003, making the aggrieved
workers free to directly approach the labour court within one year of termination of services. The
notification to this effect came after the Delhi High Court accepted the Delhi Government undertaking in
this regard and disposed of a petition filed by the Hospital Employees Union on behalf of more than 500
such employees working in Delhi. The Union in its petition claimed that, the mandatory conciliatory
exercise took a minimum of three to ten years by when the workers are completely frustrated and have no
desire to approach the labour court. (Hindu 8.9.003)

19th September
Minimum wage increased to Rs. 66 (14)
NEW DELHI, SEPT. 18. The Centre today announced an increase in the minimum wages from the
present Rs. 50 to Rs. 66 and said that the Minimum Wages Act was in the process of being revised to
ensure enforcement of the new wages. The decision, pending approval of the Central Advisory Committee
on Minimum Wages, is likely to benefit lakhs of daily-wagers across the country barring those in the
agriculture sector and beedi workers. A separate committee has been constituted for them and it will
suggest the revision of their wages. Announcing this here today at the conclusion of a National
Conference of State Labour and Health Ministers on Improvement in the Employees State Insurance
Scheme, the Union Labour Minister, Sahib Singh Verma, said the representatives of all the States had
unanimously agreed on increasing the National Floor Level Wage. The mandatory Central Advisory
Committee would be shortly constituted to formally approve the revision. The concept of National Floor
Level Wage had been mooted to remove disparity in minimum wages in the country and first fixed at Rs.
35 on the recommendations of the National Commission on Rural Labour to safeguard the interest of the
workers in all employment. (Hindu 19.9.03)

25th September
SC won’t allow review of its order on strike (14)
NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 24: CLOSING doors for reconsideration of one of its most debated
judgements, the Supreme Court today refused permission to a Kerala NGO for filing a petition seeking
review of its landmark verdict holding that government employees had no right to go on strike. A two-judge
bench comprising Justice M.B. Shah and A.R Lakshmanan perused the application for review filed by the
Kerala NGOs Association on Sept 5, in the chambers today, but dismissed the same. The deterrent
judgement banning strike by government employees said: The employees have no fundamental, statutory
or equitable right to go on strike. The counsel for the petitioner, K Rajeev, submitted to the court that
provisions exist in the Industrial Disputes Act and the Trade Unions Act regarding "strike" and for "collec-
tive bargaining". What is barred under the Industrial Disputes Act is only an illegal strike and not a general
strike. A strike becomes illegal only when it contravenes some of the provisions of the Act, he felt. On the
question of if the right to strike was fundamental, statutory or equitable/moral right, the bench said: "In our
view, no such right exists with the government employees." (Indian Express 25.9.03)

26th September
Restoration of right to strike demanded (14)
NEW DELHI, SEPT. 25. The Supreme Court judgment on banning the right to strike came in for strong
criticism at a national convention organised by the All-India State Government Employees Federation here
today that called for a nationwide strike, and State and district-level convention to demand its reversal. A
draft declaration passed at the convention called upon the Government to ratify the relevant conventions,
particularly convention 151 of the International Labour Organisation, for according democratic and political
rights, including the right to strike to Government employees and trade unions. Speaking at the function,
the Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader, Somnath Chatterjee, asked the Government to immediately
"nullify the impact of the unacceptable verdict." The convention assumes significance as the Supreme
Court had on Wednesday rejected permission to file a petition seeking review of its judgment in the case
relating to the dismissal of 1.7 lakh Tamil Nadu Government employees. The court held that the
employees had no fundamental, statutory or equitable right to strike. The Kerala NGO Association had
sought the review on the ground that the ruling has far-reaching consequences for the Government
employees. Mr. Ghatterjee urged the Government to initiate remedial steps, including a Constitutional
amendment, to correct "the wrong". Quoting the Attorney-General, Soli Sorabjee's observation that the
court's ruling was "uncalled for", he made a strong case for the reversal of the judgment, which he said
would come handy for all those who would misuse the verdict at a time when jobs were shrinking and the
minimal rights of the employees were being trampled upon. "We have already raised the issue in
Parliament, we will continue to do so till the judgment is reversed. But for that a nationwide movement to
defend workers will have to be waged outside the House," he said. (Hindu 26.9.03)

Employees serve ultimatum (14)
NEW DELHI, SEPT. 25. Representatives of the Central and State Government employees, trade unions
and workers' federation today served a three-month ultimatum to the Central Government demanding
restoration of their right to strike. The ultimatum was served at a day-long national convention of the
employees on "Right to Strike" here today, failing which the employees and trade unions will go on a
strike. A draft declaration will be submitted to Parliament in December listing their demands, including
ratification of the International Labour Conventions which would restore the right to strike. A similar
convention will be held by the Central Trade Unions tomorrow where they would impress upon the
Government to adopt a Constitutional way for restoration of the right to strike. (Hindu 26.9.03)

Suicide bid shows chinks in VSS (14)
Bhubaneswar, Sept. 25: When Abhumanyu Sethi requested the Orissa government to give him a rest
under Voluntary Separation Scheme, the state government employee who was then unpaid for 47 months
had a long list of expectations to start a fresh business and not to let his family members remain underfed.
However, little did he know, his request would travel through such a procedural hurdles that he would one
day have to make suicide attempt to apprise persons sitting at helm of the affairs about the mental agony
he is reeling under. His is not the lone case in cash starved state of Orissa. On Tuesday, the
Bhubaneswar police thwarted the suicide attempt of Abhimanyu in front of the state secretariat. The
extended battle to get his legitimate salary of 47 months and promised post-retirement ex-gratia plus
gratuity and leave encashment begun on December 31, 2001, when Abhimanyu, employee of state handi-
craft corporation, a sick state government co-operative enterprises decided to accept VSS. Orissa
government after careful consideration had decided to introduce a VSS, which would be applicable to the
employees of sick and unviable public sector undertakings or co-operative enterprises slated for closure
or liquidation on September 21, 2001. Moreover, VSS package was aimed to introduce in the selected
PSUs identified for substantial restructuring leading to reduction of at least 40 per cent of the existing work
force. (Asian Age 26.9.03)

27th September
TUs match strike ban with strike call (14)
New Delhi, Sept. 26: All major central trade unions, barring the RSS-backed Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh
(BMS), today decided "in principle" to strike work for a day in protest against the Supreme Court judgment
stripping government employees of their right to strike. They, however, could not finalise a date at today's
convention because of differences within their ranks. The unions today scheduled state-level conventions
and demonstrations for the next three months to build a tempo against the apex court verdict. They will
observe a national protest day on the second day of Parliament's winter session in November. The Indian
National Trade Union Congress (Intuc), backed by the main Opposition party, expressed its usual reserva-
tions about participating in a general strike even as Left trade unions — the Centre of Indian Trade Unions
(Citu) and the All India Trade Union Congress (Aituc) — wanted to set a date at the convention. "There
are some differences. We have in principle taken the decision to go on strike. The date will be decided
later," said Citu general secretary M.K. Pandhe. (Telegraph 27.9.03)

Draft Bill cleared for unorganized sector (14)
New Delhi: A draft Bill, which seeks to provide social security to 37 crore workers in the unorganised
sector, was cleared by the group of ministers headed by Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani here on Friday.
"The Bill seeks to provide Rs 30,000 as medical expenditure for a worker when he falls ill. Besides, each
worker will have a life insurance cover of Rs 1 lakh and he will get Rs 500 per month as pension after the
age of 60. For all this, each worker is expected to pay only Rs 2-3 per day to the Employees Provident
Fund," labour minister Sahib Singh said after the meeting. He claimed that it was the first time that any
government had thought about the majority of workers who form the unorganised sector. Stating that the
Bill was close to his heart, Singh said he was "motivated by the deep insecurity writ large on the faces of
such unorganised labourers who are constantly worried about their and their family's future". He said: "The
Bill will be introduced in the coming session of Parliament". He was sure that it will be sup-ported by all the
parties. (Times of India 27.9.03)

29th September
Oil workers threaten nationwide strike (14)
NEW DELHI, SEPT. 28. Workers of the public sector undertaking oil companies today threatened to go on
a nationwide strike if the Government tried to privatise the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited
(HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) either through a legislation or an ordinance. At
a convention, organised under the banner of 'National United Forum against privatisation of oil PSUs', it
was decided that the workers would wear black badges and hold demonstrations during lunch break on
November 18. They would also launch a signature campaign during October^ November against
privatisation of the oil majors and submit them to the Lok Sabha Speaker, before the next Parliament
session. The convention decided to resort to an immediate strike in all the oil PSUs in the event of the
Government taking any step to "repeal the Nationalisation Act in respect of HPCL/BPCL either through
legislation or through ordinance" to facilitate the privatisation of the two oil PSUs, a Centre of Indian Trade
Unions release said. (Hindu 29.9.03)
1ST October
Labour conference to ensure fair wages (14)
New Delhi, Sept. 30: The South Asian Labour Conference for Peace and Regional Cooperation has
resolved to ensure that governments in the region withdraw all anti-trade union and anti-worker laws and
administrative measures and that governments ensure secure employment, fair wages and safe working
conditions to the workers in the unorganised sector, including those in the agriculture sector.
Representatives of Trade Unions and labour support organisations in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri
Lanka met recently in Karachi and adopted a 26-point declaration, seeking greater unity of people and
workers in the South Asian region. The participants included 24 labour organisations from India, four from
Bangladesh and Sri Lanka and 142 organisations from Pakistan alone, including two representatives from
the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists and one from All Pakistan Newspaper Employees' Council.
(Asian Age 1.10.03)

4th Ooctober
Teachers not paid for 8 months (14)
Burdwan, Oct. 3: The government's failure to pay salary to about a thousand newly-appointed primary
teachers has prompted the district unit of the primary education council to offer them an ad hoc amount
from its own funds. The teachers, 921 in all, have been denied payment for the past eight months. But the
council has lined up some relief. They are now expected to get Rs 10,000 on an ad hoc basis. The council
sent necessary instructions to the banks in the last week of September but the teachers are yet to receive
the money. With the banks already on Puja holiday, they are unlikely to get the money soon. Chairman of
the district primary education council Saidul Haq said the government did not sanction the teachers' salary
over the past eight months. "They continued to teach on their own and so we have decided to offer them
an ad hoc amount during the festival season," said Haq. The teachers joined primary schools in the district
in March on a starting salary of Rs 5,200 per month. According to rules, they were supposed to receive
their salary after three months, from June. The teachers had expected to receive their first three months'
salary together but the government did not sanction the funds. It cited cash crunch for blocking the
payments. (Telegraph 4.10.03)

Suicide bid by 2 ex-workers of Tata (14)
Mumbai: Two former contract workers of Tata Power Company (TPC) set themselves ablaze on Friday
afternoon and tried to enter Bombay House, the Tata headquarters at Fort in downtown Mumbai. The two,
Anant Dalvi (45) and Akhtar Khan (42), failed in their bid to storm the building, as the guards barred the
door. They are now battling for their lives at St. George's Hospital. The duo is among the 70-odd workers,
who were employed on a contract basis by TPC on various projects. On completion of the projects in
1996-97, their contracts were not renewed. But the workers, who were members of the Tata
Hydrocompanies Employee Union, challenged their removal, in some cases after 20 years of service, in
the labour court. The matter is sub-judice. They also were urging the union to take up their demand for a
permanent job or monetary compensation. On Friday, 10 such workers had gathered outside Bombay
House to meet the union leaders, who were to sign a salary agreement with the management. When the
union leaders failed to turn up by noon, Dalvi and Khan doused themselves with kerosene and set
themselves on fire at 12.30 p.m. (Times of India 4.10.03)

11th October
Meet on labour reforms soon (14)
New Delhi: A national level conference will be held from October 16 to 18 to take a final decision on the
three basic labour issues - rationalisation of labour laws and unorganised labour, employment generation
and providing social security. Labour ministry sources told Times News Network on Wednesday that the
conference will discuss the report of the second National Commission on Labour with emphasis on
rationalisation of labour laws and unorganised labour.
There are a host of laws covering various facets of labour issues such as factories, mines, transport,
shops, safety and welfare, wages, social security, industrial relations, employment and training, emigration
and compensation. Labour comes under the concurrent list. Hence, the implementation of the laws is the
responsibility of both the Centre and the states. (Times of India 11.10.03)
15th October
 Bengal Govt. proposes restrictions on rallies (14)
KOLKATA, OCT. 14. The West Bengal Government is giving a final shape to a set of proposals restricting
the holding of public meetings and taking out processions in Kolkata. The proposals will be incorporated in
a paperbook to be submitted to the Calcutta High Court by November 12 as directed by a Division Bench
of the Court which stayed the September 29 order of Justice Amitava Lala restricting rallies on weekdays
till further orders. The proposals include a ban on holding public meetings at all but two sites in the city. An
extension of the area where prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Cr.PC are in force has also been
suggested. A final decision will be taken after consultations with the Advocate-General, Balai Roy. The
stay order was given after the High Court's Division Bench heard a State Government appeal against
Justice Lala's earlier order. The appeal was moved by Mr. Roy. The Chief Minister, Buddhadeb
Bhattacharjee, had reiterated the need to draw a fine line between upholding the people's democratic
rights and ensuring that no inconvenience is caused to the public during rallies. (Hindu 15.10.03)

Right to strike to figure at Indian Labour Conference (14)
New Delhi: The three-day Indian Labour Conference be ginning on Thursday is expected to take up issues
like disinvestment and those relating to workers, like the right to strike. This will be the 39th session of the
conference and will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and attended by labour minister
Sahib Singh Verma. The agenda for the conference includes rationalisation of labour laws, issues relating
to employment generation, protection and skill development and social security for the unorganised
sector. (Times of India 15.10.03)

16th October
'Gujarat riots relate to unemployment in Ahmedabad’ (14)
NEW DELHI, OCT. 15. The Gujarat riots last year could well be a manifestation of the degeneration of a
cohesive social system of textile workers rendered jobless over the years due to the closure of the mills.
Communal riots relate to massive unemployment in the Old City of Ah-medabad — the worst-affected
area — where there was a concentration of now closed textile mills, says Jan Breman, social scientist.
Author of a book — Working in the Mill No More, on the life of the textile mill workers virtually on the
streets now says people who once used to work in harmony are now competing with each other. It is an
organised, respectable member of a mill suddenly left with no economic or social security. His children
have no future and are ultimately recruited by the political parties to carry out odd jobs for them, he points
out. During his frequent visits to Gujarat, particularly Ahmedabad, Mr. Breman noticed that there was
deep-rooted bitterness and resentment, more so among the people living in the colonies worst hit during
riots. Riots were a way of giving vent to years of frustration caused by unemployment, he says. "But
Gujarat should not be taken as an isolated case. What happened here could be replicated elsewhere in
the country and is already happening in some parts of the world like China and Indonesia as a result of the
changing economic and social policies globally," he explains. (Hindu 16.10.03)

17th October
Simplify labour laws, says Chautala (14)
CHANDIGARH, OCT. 16. The Haryana Government today urged the Centre to simplify labour laws and
also reduce their number and enhance by three times the amount of compensation being given at the time
of retrenchment of labourers. These suggestions were made by the Haryana Chief Minister, Om Prakash
Chautala, in his speech that was read out in absentia at the 39th Indian Labour Conference in New Delhi.
The text of the speech was made available here by an official spokesman. While asserting that his
Government favoured simplification of labour laws, he said these should be in accordance with the
recommendations of the Second Labour Commission, which leave no scope for any complaint. He said at
present there were about 50 labour laws and these should be reduced to five or six. Also, those industrial
units which have less than a hundred workers should have separate simple laws. Therefore, their
implementation would also be easy. The process of clubbing various rules and making them simple
should be completed in a time-bound manner. The provisions made in the Industrial Dispute Act regarding
lay-off, retrenchment and lock-out should also be amended suitably. Mr. Chautala suggested that the
compensation being given for retrenchment be increased by three times. At present, the retrenched
labourers were being given compensation equal to the average salary of 15 days. Also, a time limit should
be fixed for the labourers to raise industrial disputes after completion of their service period. This was
necessary because at times the labourers raised industrial disputes even after 15 or 20 years without any
solid reasons. (Hindu 17.10.03)

PM for talks on ruling against strikes (14)
NEW DELHI, OCT. 16. The Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, said here today that there was a need to
arrive at a consensus to deal with the situation arising out of the recent Supreme Court ruling that
government employees had no constitutional, moral or legal right to go on strike.
"The Supreme Court gave a judgment which the trade unions did not like. It is possible that even I did not
like it. But we need to sit together to find a way out of this situation," Mr. Vajpayee said at the 39th session
of the Indian Labour Conference after trade union leaders, present at the meet, demanded that the Centre
clarify its stand on the ruling. He initially chose not to respond, but later said talks could be held only with
those interested in "finding ways" but not "with those who shut the door on a solution". This reaction came
after union leaders demanded that the Government introduce legislation to restore the right of the work-
ers. Earlier, trade unionists had sought his reaction to the court ruling and the fate of 6,000 employees of
the Tamil Nadu Government dismissed after they went on strike. Since Mr. Vajpayee's speech made no
mention of the two issues, the union leaders were on their feet as soon as he concluded. The Union
Labour Minister, Sahib Singh Verma, said neither the Government nor laws barred workers from going on
strike. The court ruling, he said, was applicable only to Government employees. However, the union
leaders insisted that the Prime Minister make a statement on the issue. (Hindu 17.10.03)

Verdict against strike most disturbing (14)
NEW DELH., OCT 16. The recent Supreme Court ruling holding that Government employees do not have
legal, moral or fundamental rights to go on strike even for just causes came in for a sharp attack from
speakers at a national conference held here today to discuss the implications of the judgment. Led by
the Editor-in-Chief of The Hindu, N. Ram, the speakers expressed concern over the judgment and said
that it affected not only the trade union movement in the country but also the whole community The
conference was organised jointly by the Indian Society of Labour Economics and the Institute for Human
Development. Mr. Ram, in his keynote address, quoting the Attorney-General, Soli Sorabjee, said the
ruling was uncalled for and the sweeping observations made by the judges were of grave concern. He
recalled an earlier Supreme Court judgment in 1989 holding that the right to strike was an important
weapon in the armoury of the worker and said that it had been recognised by almost all democratic
countries as a mode of redress for resolving the grievances of workers. He felt that the apex court no
doubt granted relief to a large number of employees (except 6,072) but failed to address the main issue of
dealing with a "draconian law promulgated by the Tamil Nadu Government. Instead, it had adopted a
technique of side-stepping the issue and made unnecessary observations. (Hindu 17.10.03)

Rs. 852 crore package to clear workers’ dues (14)
New Delhi: The government on Wednesday announced a Rs 852-crore one-time package to clear
workers' dues in 33 unviable Central public sector undertakings (PSUs), many of them in West Bengal
and Orissa. This decision, billed as "a milestone decision in workers' interest", was taken at the cabinet
meeting chaired by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, parliamentary affairs minister Sushma Swaraj told
reporters. The total amount required for clearing such dues was Rs 974.36 crore, of which Rs 122 crore
would be raised by these PSUs themselves. The remaining Rs 852.37 crore would be provided as
one-time budgetary support, she said. This financial support to the 33 sick and loss-making Central PSUs
is based on the government action plan for "revival, closure or disinvestment" of the enterprises, she said.
Times of India 17.10.03)

20th October
Unorganised sector draft Bill okayed (14)
New Delhi: The three-day Indian Labour Conference failed to arrive at any consensus on rationalisation of
labour laws. However, it accepted the draft Bill on unorganised sector prepared by the labour ministry.
There was also a consensus on the various social security schemes for labourers but it was suggested
that all such schemes should be integrated and implemented through one window. Speaking at the con-
clusion of the conference here on Saturday, labour minister Sahib Singh Verma said: "The conference
saw various views on the Industrial Disputes Act with employees opposing hire and fire policy and em-
ployers supporting it, claiming that it would pave the way for employment generation. "No consensus was
evolved on the issue of rationalisation of labour laws," he said. However, the two new Bills on the
unorganised sector and contract labour were unanimously accepted and are likely to be introduced in the
Winter session of Parliament, he said. (Times of India 20.10.03)

24th October
HC partially restores terminal benefits for Govt. employees (14)
CHENNAI, OCT. 23. The Madras High Court today struck down as arbitrary and irrational two of the four
controversial Government Orders, which sought to curtail pension benefits of thousands of government
employees, who retired after March 30, 2003. While one GO reduced the maximum en-cashable leave by
a superannuating employee to 300 from the prevailing 330, another order sought to enhance the com-
mutation discount rate from 4 per cent to 8. A Division Bench comprising Justice P.K. Misra and Justice
P.M. Kalifulla quashed both orders. However, the Bench upheld two other orders — one raising the
qualifying service period for a government servant to be eligible for full pension to 33 years from 30, and
the other restricting the maximum limit for commutation of portion of pension to 33.3 per cent, against the
prevailing quantum of 40 per cent. The fifth order, which proposed to pay 50 per cent of the provident fund
in the form of small savings certificate with a maturity period of three years to retiring staff, was withdrawn
by the Government during the pendency of the petitions. (Hindu 24.10.03)

Rudy’s rocket for pilots’ strikes (14)
New Delhi, October 23: CONTINUING its run of reforms, the Civil Aviation Ministry has taken the first step
to make it more difficult for pilots to go on strike. It has written to Labour Minister Sahib Singh Verma
proposing that pilots be taken out of the purview of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947. If this happens, it will
be illegal for them to go on strike. Sources said the letter cites the recommendations of the Second
National Labour Commission. The Commission had recommended that several "better off sections of
employees" like airline pilots cannot be categorised as ordinary "workmen." Removing them from this
category, sources said, would mean that pilots and their representative bodies like the Indian Commercial
Pilots Association—which gave a strike call during the SARS scare disrupting air traffic—will not be pro-
tected under the Act. (Indian Express 24.10.03)

25th October
Govt seeks consensus on rally ban verdict (14)
Kolkata: The West Bengal government is convening an all-party meeting on Wednesday to try and have a
consensus on restrictions for political rallies in Kolkata. The Trinamul Congress would first like to know
what proposal the state government had worked out, before deciding on whether to attend the Wednesday
meeting or not, Opposition leader Pankaj Banerjee said on Friday. "We will write to the chief secretary on
Monday, asking for the background paper of the meeting. We want to discuss it in the party before we go
to the meeting," Banerjee said. "For, the state government is preparing its stand in consultation with the
Left Front partners and they will come prepared." The letter it got from the state chief secretary said the
government had called the meeting to arrive at a consensus on the issue of processions and meetings.
"This by itself is inadequate," he said. He says the state government should have called such a meeting
before going to the division bench of the high court, challenging the single judge's order in this regard.
"They are calling the meeting now because the government finds itself in a tight corner on the issue," he
said. (Times of India 25.10.03)

HC dubs Bihar govt heartless (14)
Patna: Observing that the Bihar government was "heartless", the Patna High Court on Friday pilloried the
state government for not initiating steps for early disbursement of Rs 50 crore deposited in the court for
distribution among the employees of 19 sick public sector undertakings. "The employees of these
closed PSUs are dying of hunger. Their children are being deprived of celebrating festivals for want of
money. But, the state government is sitting pretty and not even providing office and secretariat staff to a
three-member committee constituted by the court for the disbursement of money among the staff. It
appears the state government has become heartless," a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Ravi
S Dhavan and Justice Shashank Kumar Singh observed. When registrar general of the court informed
the Bench that the state's chief secretary, K A H Subraman-ian, felt a meeting between the chief minister
and the Chief Justice could resolve the issue, Dhavan asked the registrar general to convey to the CS that
he was prepared for talks with the chief minister anytime and anywhere. (Times of India 25.10.03)
6th Nov.
Landmark Bill today, leaves out your maid (14)
NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 5: IT will be a new dawn for ragpickers, scavengers, rickshaw-pullers and an
estimated 37 crore labourers in the unorganised sector if the Cabinet clears a pathfinding Bill tomorrow.
However, the Unorganised Sector Workers' Bill that seeks to extend minimum wages and other social
security benefits to labourers in 122 sectors has a glaring omission: domestic helps. "We are open to the
idea and will ensure that they will be included when the Bill is finally drafted before it is notified," assured
Baleshwar Rai, additional secretary, Ministry of Labour. Interestingly, an earlier version of the Bill which
was being circulated had included domestic workers. Labour organisations claim there are over 1.5 crore
domestic workers in India who are still referred to as 'servants'. They do not enjoy minimum wages, fixed
working hours or any other social security benefits. Lobbying has already begun for the inclusion of this
sector in the Bill. There was a meeting organised by the Indian Social Institute that discussed the lacunae
in the Bill. A meeting has also been called by the National Commission of Women that will discuss the
domestic workers' rights vis-a-vis the Bill. Nearly 70 per cent of the domestic workers are women. (Indian
Express 6.11.03)

7th Nov.
burnt alive in Bengal tea estate violence (14)
KOLKATA, NOV. 6. Nineteen people were burnt alive when a mob of nearly 400, mostly tea garden
workers, set ablaze the house of a trade union leader in the Dalgaon tea estate in north Bengal's
Jalpaiguri district this morning. The bodies of the persons trapped indoors were charred, making it difficult
for police to initially determine the number of the dead. The West Bengal Chief Minister, Buddhadeb
Bhattacharjee, said the incident was gruesome and raised serious concerns. The police were investigating
the incident and senior police officials were at the spot, he said. ,The violence was a sequel to a dispute
between two sections of the estate's 1,500 or so workers over the filling of three vacancies for the posts of
clerks. An associate of Tarakeshwar Lohar, secretary of the Chaba-gan Mazdoor Union (the only union in
the estate), fired at a 22-year-old youth, Sanik Kachua, as a group of people approached the former's
house in the labour lines, the State's IGP (Law and Order), Chayan Mukherjee, told The Hindu. As news
of the attack on Mr. Kachua spread, tea workers emerged from their homes and, after converging outside
the factory gates, headed for Mr. Lohar's house and set it on fire. Mr. Lohar was not at home then but 19
others who were indoors were trapped in the flames. (Hindu 7.11.03)

Cabinet defers minimum wage Bill (14)
NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 6: THE Union Cabinet today deferred its decision on a landmark legislation that
seeks to extend minimum wages and social security benefits to labourers across 122 sectors, including
ragpickers and rickshaw pullers. The Unorganised Sector Workers' Bill is likely to come up for discussion
again in the next Cabinet meeting, said Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. Though the
Bill—cleared by a Group of Ministers headed by Deputy PM L.K. Advani — was discussed, we felt the
need to tie loose ends before introducing it in Parliament, Swaraj said. "It is being fine-tuned and will be
taken up in the next Cabinet meeting," she said, emphasizing that it had not been rejected. The Bill aims
at bringing 75 pc of the country's workforce under the social security net by providing pension, health and
welfare schemes at nominal cost. The Finance Ministry opposed the Bill on the grounds of duplicacy of
welfare measures and huge funds required for its implementation. It proposed to impose a cess on petrol,
which would contribute to the Welfare Fund, apart from Central and State grants. A Central grant of Rs 10
crore is required for 10 years, it said. (Indian Express 7.11.03)

12TH Nov.
SC upholds govt pension scheme (14)
New Delhi: Public and private sector employees on Tuesday lost the last legal battle against the govern-
ment's interference in their provident fund corpus. The Supreme Court upheld the validity of the 1996
pension scheme providing for diverting a major part of the employers' provident fund (EPF) contribution to
a Central fund for payment of pension to employees. At least 80 employees' unions across the country
had challenged the Employees Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions (Amendment) Act, 1996,
merging the prevailing family pension scheme with the provident fund account. We are upholding the
validity of the scheme, the SC said. Employees' unions across the country had challenged the
government's pension scheme on the ground that it was arbitrarily withholding money due to the
employees after retirement on the pretext of paying pension. They had said though the employees'
contribution to the PF was not touched, a major portion of the employers' contribution was to be diverted
to pension fund. The 1996 Act provided that of the total contribution of the employer, an amount
equivalent to 8.33 per cent of the basic and DA of the employee would be transferred every month to the
Central fund. (Times of India 12.11.03)

AIDWA spells out stand on proposed amendment to Factory Act (14)
NEW DELHI, NOV. 11. The All-India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) has written to the
chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee for the Labour Ministry spelling out its stand on the
proposed amendment to the Factory Act to permit night work for women, which at present, is disallowed. It
also specific made proposals. "We agree that it is necessary to standardise the conditions for night work
for women but in doing so it must be ensured that the interests and concerns of women workers remain
central to the proposed amendment," the Association said. The amendment was inadequate and
unsatisfactory, and would do injustice to women workers if adopted in its present form. Pointing out that
the proposed amendment made it mandatory for a woman worker to accept night work, the Association
said in many cases it might not be possible for a woman worker to do the night shift. "In a patriarchal
society like ours, a woman worker is often forced to do a double duty shift having to shoulder the major
burden of household also. Thus, she should be allowed to decline night work without being victimised for
it," the letter said. The employer must make arrangements for a creche where night workers may bring
their children if they wanted to. (Hindu 12.11.003)

13th Nov.
AIDWA objects to Factory Act (14)
New Delhi, Nov. 12: Objecting to the proposed amendments to the Factory Act "which were unfriendly to
women working in night," a women's organisation has suggested measures to provide conducive
environment to the women employees. All India Democratic Women Association has written to the labour
ministry parliamentary standing committee regarding the proposed amendments to the Factory Act to per-
mit night work for women. Ms Brinda Karat, AIDWA general secretary while terming the amendments
inadequate and unsatisfactory said "We agree that it is necessary to standardise the conditions for night
work for women but in doing so it must be ensured that the interest and concern of women workers
remain central to the proposed amendments." She cautioned that "it will do injustice to women if it is
adopted in the present form." The amendment makes no provision for penalty against an erring employer.
Given the poor record of employers as far as implementation of the conditions for night work in the
appropriate section the safety of women is must, said Ms Karat. (Asian Age 13.11.03)

18th Nov.
587 Chennai employees dismissed (14)
CHENNAI, NOV. 17. At last, the suspense has ended for dismissed/suspended Tamil Nadu Government
employees, who went on strike in July last. The Government has decided to take back 2,350 employees
working in the Secretariat and other departments in Chennai city, out of 2,937 against whom disciplinary
action was taken. The remaining 587 have been dismissed. According to an official release, orders have
been issued by the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms late this evening. As per the
order, except 132 persons who are exonerated, all employees have been awarded some punishment.
While 2,162 employees will have to lose increments, 56 staff members are to be demoted. It is said that
only those who absented themselves for genuine reasons were exonerated. The three-member panel,
consisting of the former Madras High Court judges, Malai Subramanian, K. Sampath and P. Thangavel,
which heard representations by the dismissed or suspended employees under the provisions of the Tamil
Nadu Essential Services Maintenance Act, issued orders for those working in various departments in the
Secretariat and in Chennai district. (Hindu 18.11.03)

19th Nov.
Desperation for jobs led to clashes (14)
New Delhi: A staggering 74 lakh people applied for heavy manual labour against 20,000 vacancies in the
railways. The cyber capital of Secunderabad topped the chart with 12 lakh applicants for 2,700 vacancies.
Next is Kolkata with 11 lakh applications for 2,000 vacancies.
The railway recruitment for the lowest, 'D', category, has also resulted in a minor inter-state tussle
between Assam and Bihar. The attendance ratio of Sunday examination held in Guwahati could explain
why the Assamese are upset. For the first exam on November 9, 93,000 examinees were issued call
letters from Guwahati and 60 per cent of them turned up. But after the "outsider" issue agitated the
Assamese, only 45 per cent appeared for the exam on Sunday. Does it mean that 55 per cent of the
candidates were from outside the state? Railway officials are not willing to hazard a guess. But they admit
that the situation is the result of rules that allow candidates to put in multiple applications. A person can
apply in the Patna, Guwahati and Kolkata railway recruitment board (RRB) offices simultaneously. (Times
of India 19.11.03)

20th Nov.
Railways trying to fill up huge backlog of jobs (14)
New Delhi, November 19: THE RAILWAY jobs over which Assam, Bihar and Maharashtra witnessed vio-
lence in the past few days had piled up since 1982 when the Railway Ministry began its voluntary
"right-sizing" exercise. It took a spate of serious accidents for the railways to discover that staff cuts had
seriously affected track maintenance. Most affected were gangmen who carry out manual inspection of
tracks. Spread over the railways' 16 zones, the 38,000 vacancies were being filled up by the 19 railway
recruitment boards (RRBs). The decision to fill up the jobs attracted over 75 lakh applications at the
RRBs. Those applying for the jobs of khalasis, gangmen and helpers included MBAs, graduates,
postgraduates and engineers. This when requirement was just "eighth-class pass". The age group
identified was 18-35 years. Early this year, "IT-enabled" outside agencies were hired to scrutinise the
applications. The number of eligible candidates was still 55 lakh. Following Article 16 of the Constitution
and a Supreme Court judgement, the railways could not distinguish among the candidates on the basis of
regional or linguistic considerations. (Hindustan Times 20.11.03)

21st Nov.
Railway threatens to move Mumbai recruitment unit (14)
Mumbai, Nov. 20: The Railway ministry has warned the state government that it will shift the Western
India recruitment centre out of Mumbai if it cannot provide adequate protection. On Tuesday, nearly 2,000
volunteers of the Shiv Sena's student wing, the Bharatiya Vidyarthi Sena ransacked offices of the railway
recruitment board and senior railway officers at the Mumbai Central railway station. They were led by
Sena Member of Parliament Mohan Rawale. The Sainiks damaged the official cars of the railway officers.
The police had to resort to a lathi charge to prevent the mob from causing further destruction. According
to a railway spokesperson, property worth Rs 4 lakhs was damaged. The railway ministry had called up
Director General of Police S.M. Shingare and warned that if the government could not provide security
then it would be forced to shift the recruitment centre outside Mumbai," said deputy chief minister
Chhagan Bhujbal. Mr Bhujbal at the weekly cabinet briefing at Mantralaya on Wednesday said the
government had assured the ministry that the state government would ensure that there is adequate
security. (Asian Age 21.11.03)

22nd Nov.
Women constables in Kerala a qualified lot (14)
Thiruvananthapuram, Nov. 21: DOUBLE POST-graduates and PhD-holders for the constables' posts.
Read on. Of the 205 women constables who passed out of the Kerala Police Academy in Thrissur on
Thursday, two are PhDs, eight double post-graduates, 29 post-graduates and 122 are graduates. (The
qualification for the post is only tenth pass). Police officials, on their part, are bewildered by the high
portfolios of their women constabulary. Usually, havildars train the constables. Now they are forced to
engage well-educated senior officers to train these high-profile women constables. "Yes, we have the best
qualified force in the country. These new-look constables are doing wonders," exults Alexander Jacob,
joint director of the police academy.
B. Meera became a constable after finishing her LLB. "I am happy My qualification really helps me in
performing my duties," she says. "With my law background, I can prepare documents like
without any difficulty." A state where one in every five is unemployed (60 lakh jobless in three crore
population), there is a mad rush for opportunities. And the Kerala police are happy to exploit the situation.
It is busy reserving 10 per cent of its constabulary for women in all police stations.
With the induction of a large number of women, complaints against the police force have declined. "They
are more transparent and sincere than their male counterparts," admits a senior official. (Hindustan Times
22.11.03)

23rd Nov.
Kerala Govt. abolishes 3,510 posts (14)
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, NOV. 22. The State Government has abolished with immediate effect 3,510
posts out of the 17,195 posts identified by it as surplus. A Government Order issued on Wednesday
(November 19), the day on which the Cabinet decided to lift the ban on recruitment and extend the validity
of PSC rank lists up to March 31, 2004, says that the 3,510 posts will stand abolished with immediate
effect. It also says that in case any of these 3,510 posts are not vacant now, they would be treated
supernumerary in the departments concerned. This means that these posts would cease to exist as and
when the current incumbent leaves it. Among the posts that have been abolished with effect from
November 19, the highest number (652) belongs to the Department of Survey and Land Records. The
Directorate of Medical Education under the Department of Health and Family Welfare has lost 553 posts,
the Department of Water Resources 363 posts, the Department of Registration 326 posts, the Department
of Industries and Commerce 262 posts, the Department of Fisheries 202 posts, the Department of
General Education 155 posts and the Department of Printing 105 posts. (Hindu 23.11.03)

16 more Biharis killed in Assam (14)
GUWAHATI, NOV. 22. Violence erupted again in Assam today after a relative lull for 48 hours, resulting in
the death of 16 Biharis, even as the Union Minister for the North-East Region, C. P. Thakur, and the Union
Minister of State for Home, Swami Chinmayananda, arrived here to take stock of the worsening situation.
With this, the toll in the weeklong violence against immigrant Bihari labourers has gone up to 51. In
probably the worst attack in Tinsukia district, militants struck near the Mahakali Tea Estate in Bordubi area
today and shot dead 8 Bihari workers. They struck again near the Lankesh Tea Estate killing three
labourers and injuring two. Most of the victims were from Muzaffarpur and Chhapra districts of Bihar. One
person was killed in a group clash in Kako-pathar area of Dibrugarh district, while in Guwahati a gas
cylinder in a tea stall exploded, following arson, killing one. In Tinsukia district, three Biharis were thrown
into the Brahmaputra with their hands tied. Curfew was imposed in Bordubi, Kakopathar, Dholla and
Makum in Tinsukia district following the attacks. The 'commander-in-chief of the United Liberation Front of
Assam (ULFA), Paresh Barua, owned responsibility for the attacks and warned of more violence if the
Biharis did not leave the State. (Hindu 23.11.03)

24th Nov.
Rly recruitments put on the narrow gauge (14)
New Delhi: The Centre decided on Sunday to club Railway recruitment boards (RRBs) with railway divi-
sions to meet regional aspirations of the local people following tension in Assam and Bihar over
recruitment procedures. Nineteen RRBs will be merged with 67 divisions for the benefit of regional people
in the recruitment of Group C and D categories of jobs in the next phase, railway minister Nitish Kumar
told reporters here. He termed as "baseless" the charges of "favouritism and regionalism" regarding
recruitments in railways. He said the ministry now conducts tests in regional languages as well for the
benefit of local people. Kumar regretted politicisation of recruitments in some states, saying, "Railway has
been a symbol of national integrity and I request all people, state governments and others to let Railway
continue its duty."
He cited legal difficulties in earmarking quotas for each state in railway jobs. The minister said he would
meet MPs from the Northeast during the coming Parliament session to explain his position vis-à-vis
government initiatives to have a transparent recruitment policy for the railways. (Times of India 24.11.03)

Uddhav: Blame it on Laloo Yadav (14)
Sangli (Maharashtra), Nov.23: Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday blamed
Bihar's strongman Laloo Prasad Yadav, president of the Rashtriya Janata Dal, for the current fracas in
Mumbai over railway recruitment. "The fact that over two lakh Biharis should come to Mumbai shows the
state of development in Bihar. It shows the failure of Mr Yadav's goveminent to provide employment to its
people. Every government must take up the cause of its people and that is what we have done. This is
also the reason why we are raising the drought issue, highlighting the failure of the Democratic Front
government to provide relief to the affected people," he said. The Shiv Sena's demand for quotas in jobs
for locals includes all those migrants who came before 1995, Mr Thackeray added. He said the Shiv Sena
had already made it clear during its Mee Mumbaikar campaign that all those who had come before 1995
were a part of Mumbai. "We have always maintained that all those who came before 1995 are locals.
Don't their children deserve jobs? Hence there must be a quota in jobs on the basis of region," he said.
(Asian Age 24.11.03)

Two Biharis lynched in Assam, toll reaches 48 (14)
Guwahati, November 23: THE ANTI-BIHARI pogrom in Assam spilled over to more areas of Tinsukia
district in Upper Assam with the lynching of two labourers on Sunday With this, the death toll in the vio-
lence over the past nine days has reached 48. According to reports, a mob of non-Hindi speaking people
attacked Rupai village. While a dozen odd people were roughed
up, two were hacked to death. In a separate incident, miscreants threw three persons into a river at Dhola
in Tinsukia on Saturday night. Two were rescued but one is still missing. Notwithstanding the continuing
violence, the Biharis of Assam bear no ill will against their non-Hindi speaking neighbours. "Our Assamese
neighbours were not involved in the torching of our houses. Most attackers were strangers, possibly from
outside," said Rajesh Gupta, a volunteer at the Hindustani Vidyalaya relief camp. The camp is one of the
three set up in the town by the district administration. Gupta says the locality's Assamese helped some of
their Bihari neighbours escape the mob violence. "The assailants just kept coming at us. There was
virtually no escape route," he says, reliving the horror of the night of November 18. (Hindustan Times
24.11.03)
2nd Dec.
Jobs for locals: N.E students set deadline for reservation (14)
GUWAHATI, DECEMBER 1: THE North-East Students' Organisation (NESO), an umbrella body of all
student associations here, has set a deadline for the Centre to announce 100 per cent reservation for
"locals" in all D-category government jobs in the region. NESO general secretary N.S. Lotha said if the
Centre fails to come up with an announcement to this effect by December 15, they will resort to a series of
agitational programmes, beginning with a 72-hour hunger strike in all state capitals. NESO chairman
Samujjal Bhattacharyya alleged though the Centre has declared N-E a special economic zone, it has done
little to solve the unemployment problem. Meanwhile, the All Assam Students' Union (AASU) suspended
all its agitational programmes for 15 days from today, with its president Prabin Boro saying, "It is in the
interest of creating an atmosphere of peace and assurance." Union Minister for North-East Development
C.E Thakur today announced a package to rehabilitate the Biharis and other Hindi-speaking people who
were uprooted in violence. (Indian Express 2.12.003)

3rd Dec.
Anti-slavery laws still archaic (14)
New Delhi: An Anti-Slavery Campaign' was staged at Jantar Mantar on Tuesday to protest against bonded
labour. Activist and actor Shabana Azmi who was among the celebrities present at the demonstration
said, "The number of slaves in India has gone up from 55 lakh about eight years ago to 90 lakh at
present." The protest was organised by an NGO that works against bonded labour. Azmi told The Times
of India, "The menace will end only by creating wider awareness among people." Awareness at the ground
level, will help stir political will which is too lax over the issue, she added. Azmi said that it was the attitude
of political and bureaucratic authorities that had done all the damage over the years and negated all the
efforts of the common people to end the menace. The whole approach in handling the issue has been
wrong. Where a wholistic approach was required, a piecemeal approach has been applied. A handful of
slaves are rescued and rehabilitated at a time and then there is a lull, she said. Slavery should be
presented as an emotive issue, she said. Though abolition of slavery has been made a law, it will be of no
good until the law is properly implemented. Azmi said, "Even as Indian authorities are doing nothing at all
to end slavery, they call it an insult if slavery in India is discussed before the UN." The ignorance in India is
such that the officials failed to produce the figures on how many children were working as bonded labour,
she said. Considering the growing number of slaves in the country, it is obvious that the government will
never be able to keep its promise to end slavery by 2007, she said. (Times of India 3.12.03)

9th Dec.
Visually-challenged warn Orissa on job reservation (14)
Bhubaneswar, Dec. 8: Over 200 visually impaired persons on Monday served ultimatum to Orissa
government saying. If efforts were not made to expedite the implementation of their one per cent reserve
in different government jobs within next 48 hours, they would resort to sit on a fast un-to death. Most of the
visually impaired persons were qualified and seeking employment in recently mass recruitment of
assistant primary teachers by the state government. Some visually challenged who gathered under the
banner of Orissa Association for Blinds said. We have been negotiating with the slate government for last
six months. On three occasions since June this year, we have met chief minister Naveen Patnaik in his
grievance cell. Every time, one answer comes from him that he would direct the secretary to look into the
matter said Panchanan Nayak, one aspirant. Sources said that more than 20 visually challenged persons
have been selected for the post of assistant teachers in different districts, however, district collectors show
their helplessness as there is no clear government orders to take them in the service. (Asian Age 9.12.03)

10th Dec.
Thackeray threatens tit-for-tat over jobs (14)
Mumbai,Dec.9: ShivSena supremo Bal Thackeray has reacted strongly to the Samajwadi Party's threat of
"breaking any hand that is raised against people from other states" by stressing that the Sena's response
to these threats will cost dearly all those trying to scuttle its ongoing drive for job reservations for locals.
Interestingly, the NCP has also launched a series of programmes and is independently endorsing the
"rights" of the local youth. Mr Thackeray's stern response came after Samajwadi Party leaders led by its
national general secretary Amar Singh lashed out at the Shiv Sena for humiliating Biharis and Upites.
TheSP has sought an apology from the Shiv Sena for its "anti UP-Bihari stand."Miffed by the SP's criticism
that the Sena was even discriminating between Hindus from different parts of the country, the Sena
supremo said that the SP had no right to vitiate the atmosphere. 11 they are so concerned about this
issue, they should go and hold a public meeting m Assam," he said, ridiculing the Lagaan rally organised
by the SP here on Sunday. (Asian Age 10.12.03)

Call for united struggle to end anti-worker policies (14)
CHENNAi, DEC. 9. The need for an all-India general strike in protest against the Supreme Court
observation on the right to strike was endorsed and reiterated by the Centre of Indian Trade Unions
(CITU) at its llth conference, which began here today. Expressing concern over the "concerted and
brazen" attempts made by the Central and State Governments, particularly Tamil Nadu, to deprive
workers of their "hard-earned rights and privileges", the CITU felt that it was high time that trade unions,
irrespective of their political affiliations, put up a united struggle to end "anti-worker policies." The CITU
president, E. Balanandan, in his presidential address, said that the conference would chalk out an action
programme to counteract the "evil machinations" of the BJP Government which, he said, was acting at the
behest of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organisation. These in-
ternational agencies, he alleged, were mainly working for the interests of the transnational corporations
and systematically intensifying the bondage of weaker nations. Mr. Balanandan said: "The jobless growth
model of capitalism was now changing to a job killing mode." Downsizing, outsourcing, shifting of
industries to low-wage areas, reduction of welfare amenities and attempt for direct wage reduction were
becoming the order of the day exploding the myth that "capitalism would be the panacea for evils of the
economy," he added. (Hindu 10.12.03)

12th Dec.
AIR India: Ministry raises women crew retirement age from 50 to 58 (14)
New Delhi, Dec. 11: WOMEN have managed to assert themselves during the NDA regime not only in two
state capitals. There's another group of 113 women rejoicing at how the political establishment has rid
them of what they call a deep-rooted gender bias. On November 21, the Ministry of Civil Aviation issued
an order informing Air India of its decision to let air hostesses fly till the age of 58—at par with their male
counterparts "in view of the exigencies of the circumstances and in the interest of the operations of Air
India." These women had been protesting since July when the Supreme Court rejected their plea for
extension of retirement age from the existing 50. (Indian Express 12.12.03)

14th Dec.
Citu not in favour of night shifts for women (14)
Chennai, Dec. 13: The Centre for Indian Trade Unions on Friday announced opposition to giving any
blanket permission for employers to get women to do night shifts and said it would oppose any such
sweeping changes in the labour laws proposed by the Vajpayee government. While women already held
night shifts in jobs like telephone operators and nurses, it must be acknowledged that night shifts for
women could be extended only under certain conditions and not enforced recklessly, said the Citu at a
special session to discuss women-related issues at its ongoing eleventh All-India conference here.
Briefing the media on the fourth day deliberations, the Citu's general secretary, M.K. PandhE and Dr
Hemalalha, chairperson of the trade union body's All India Working Women's Coordination Committee,
stressed that the government should consider the practical problems of working women having to look
after their children, besides issues such as security in factories and establishments during night shifts. The
Citu was insisting for an amendment to the proposed Central legislation to mandate dropping of working
women after night shifts. The new legislation was considering dropping them at the nearest destination,
whereas we are demanding that they should be dropped at their homes, the Citu leaders said. (Asian Age
14.12.03)

Ban on strike; PMO denies reports (14)
NEW DELHI, DEC. 13. The Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, today assured a delegation of the
Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) that his Government would consider its charter of demands, a PMO
spokesman said denying reports that Mr. Vajpayee did not favour a ban on the right to strike. Mr.
Vajpayee gave a patient hearing to the delegation and told it that the Government would consider its
demands, a PMO spokesman said. The Prime Minister had not given any indication that the Government
was not in favour of banning the right to strike, he said. The spokesman said the BMS had wrongly
attributed to the Prime Minister having said that the Government was not in favour of banning the right to
strike and had sought the opinion of legal experts on "the issue. The delegation included the BMS deputy
general secretary, Girish Awasthi, the resident secretary, R.K. Bhakt, and the secretary-general, D.M.
Ramdeo. On August 6, the Supreme Luurt held that the government employees had no right to go on
strike. (Hindu 14.12.03)

15th Dec.
Govt’s job: Take better care of the disabled (14)
New Delhi: The National Centre for the Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP) says
the disabled have job reservation in only three of the 26 Central services. And even in these three
services, there are no vacancies for the visually impaired. Speaking to reporters here, Javed Abidi of the
NCPEDP pointed out that the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) allowed the visually impaired to
sit for the civil services exam every year though no jobs were reserved for them. "Hundreds of visually im-
paired candidates write this exam in Braille. The UPSC assigns special centres and conducts the exam
but has no jobs to offer to the successful candidates. The whole exercise is a sham," he maintained.
People with hearing impairment and ortho,paedic_ disability are entitled to get a job in the reserved
category ui the Indian P&T Accounts and Finance Service, the Indian Information Service and the Armed
Forces Headquarters Civil Service. Abidi gave instances of disabled people being denied jobs in the civil
services despite having cleared the UPSC exam in the general category. "There are cases of disabled
candidates clearing the preliminary and main exam and even the interview on merit, but being rejected for
the top services on grounds of their disability," he said. (Times of India 15.12.03)

16thDec.
Women bear a heavier burden (14)
NEW DELHI, DEC. 15. The 'informalisation' of labour sector has virtually ended the concept of minimum
wages structure for the women agricultural labour in rural Haryana where workers are now usually paid
piece-rate wages. Minimum wages are fixed on a daily basis and it is the employer who fixes the duration
of working hours also. A study on the changing patterns of women's work in rural Haryana conducted by
the Indian School of Women's Studies and Development (affiliated to All India Democratic Women's
Association), found that women workers were almost totally excluded from the employment generation
programmes as a result of 'inappropriate' choice of public works and frequent use of contractors and
labour displacing machines. Whenever hired, workers are paid piece-rated wages and earnings of about
90 per cent of the women workers under employment generation programmes are lower than the
minimum wages. Sponsored by the Union Labour Ministry, the study is based on a survey of 445 landless
manual worker households from two villages in Haryana -Dhamar in Rohtak district and Birdhana in
Fatehabad district -both different in terms of size, caste composition, land distribution, cropping pattern
and systems of labour hiring. The data on employment from these two villages, however, bring out some
striking similarities. About 80 per cent of women in the working age-group (16 to 60 years) did some hired
work but on an average, a woman manual worker found employment for only about 40 days in a year as
against a man who found employment for 100 days. (Hindu 16.12.03)

17th Dec.
Opp wants Govt to state stand on right to strike (14)
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 16: FOLLOWING the Supreme Court order against government employees'
right to strike work, the Opposition led by the Left parties want the government to clear its stand on the
issue."The Opposition parties would ask the government to clarify its stand on the matter," the CPI-M RS
member Nilotpal Basu said. Ridiculing Labour Minister Sahib Singh Verma's contention that there are
enough redressal forums to take care of workers' grievances, Basu said: "Over ll,000cases are pending
before the labour tribunals. It shows the reality of the redressal mechanisms available to workers. Besides,
large number of vacancies in the tribunals have not been filled for years." Earlier, when asked to clarify the
government stand on strikes, Sahib Singh said: "It is a misconception that labourers cannot go on strike. It
is their democratic right to go on collective cessation of work. Only employees of public service utilities are
supposed to give prior notice. The Supreme Court issued directions in the context of Tamil Nadu." (Indian
Express 17.12.03)

Wage ceiling for ESI cover raised (14)
New Delhi, December 16: THE EMPLOYEES' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) on Tuesday decided to
enhance the wage ceiling for the purpose of coverage of employees under the scheme from the existing
Rs 6,500 per month to Rs 7,500. The new ceiling will be notified shortly ESIC director-general Ajay Dua
said the increase in the ceiling would bring 3.50 lakh more workers under the purview of the scheme,
which covers 70 lakh workers at present countrywide. Dua said the decision was taken as the number of
workers covered by the scheme was reducing with the increase in the workers' income. In 1999, there
were, 84 lakh workers covered by the scheme. The exit of workers over the years could affect the viability
of the scheme, it was felt. The ESIC also decided to widen the coverage of factories and establishments
under the scheme. Now, all factories and establishments employing 10 or more workers would be
compulsorily covered by the scheme. Earlier, the factories with 20 workers were compulsorily covered and
factories with 10 workers were covered if the units used power for their operations. (Hindustan Times
17.12.03)

18th Dec.
Pension reform, this time for MPs, too (14)
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 17: THE Govenment plans to dole out pension for former Members of
Parliament who do not qualify for the superannuation benefit by relaxing the eligibility norm.
In a proposal to be placed before the Cabinet tomorrow, the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs is rec-
ommending an amendment in the Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament Act of 1954
to allow a minimum monthly pension of Rs 3,000 to all MPs who sat in Lok Sabha for nine months. Under
existing law, former MPs of either House are entitled to a pension only if they have served a minimum of
four years. Each year added after five years gets an additional Rs
600 every month as pension. This is the third revision in pension. In September 2001, the Act was
amended to raise the pension limit to Rs 3,000 per month from Rs 2,500 per month and a year later it was
changed to raise the pension for those who had served the Lok Sabha twice but had not completed four
years. Sources said that the proposed revision would entail an additional outgo of Rs 7 crore per annum
from the Consolidated Fund of India with the number of additional beneficiaries more than 1,400
members. (Indian Express 18.12.03)

None has the right to destroy property during strike: S.C.(14)
NEW DELHI, DEC. 17. The Supreme Court has said that no person had any right to destroy another's
property in the guise of a strike irrespective of the proclaimed reasonableness of the cause or question
whether there was any legal sanction for the same. A Bench comprising Justice Doraiswamy Raju and
Justice Arijit Pasayat made it clear that in the name of a bandh or a hartal or a strike no person "has any
right to cause inconvenience to any other person or to cause in any manner a threat or apprehension of
risk to life, liberty, property of any citizen or destruction of life and property and the least any government
or public property." The Bench asked the authorities concerned to take a serious note of these aspects
while dealing with those who destroyed public property in the name of a strike. It observed that those who
had genuine demands should not lose sight of the overall situation eluding control and reacting
unmanageable bounds, endangering life and property and enabling anti-social forces to gain control
resulting in all-round destruction with counter-productive results at the expense of public order and peace.
The Bench was passing orders acquitting a person, James Martin, who killed two others in self-defence
when a mob during a 'Bharat bandh' on March 15, 1998, entered his factory in Kochi, Kerala, and ordered
its closure. He and his father were awarded seven years imprisonment by the trial court. The Kerala High
Court while acquitting his father confirmed the sentence in respect of Martin. The present appeal by the
accused was directed against the impugned judgment. The Kerala Government filed an appeal against
the acquittal of Martin's father. (Hindu 18.12.03)

20th Dec.
Unorganised Sector Workers Bill put on hold? (14)
NEW DELHI, DEC. 19. The Union Labour Minister, Sahib Singh Verma's much-publicised dream project,
the Unorganised Sector Workers Bill, 2003, seeking to provide social security to 370 million workers in the
informal sector, is unlikely to be tabled in this session of Parliament. The session is scheduled to end on
Tuesday and the Bill is yet to get the mandatory Cabinet approval before being tabled in Parliament. When
the Group of Ministers approved the draft Bill in July, Mr, Verma had assured its passage in the winter
session for early implementation. However, the Cabinet raised some objections. The draft Bill was all set
to be cleared in Thursday's Cabinet meeting after the objections were "removed". But, sources said, the
Bill was dropped from the agenda at the last minute and the Minister told that the Centre was not "too
keen" on passing it in the ongoing session due to its huge financial implications. The Centre will have to
levy a cess on petroleum products to raise funds for implementing this project that envisages regularising
employment and improving the service conditions of the workers by providing them with social security,
medical insurance and family pension. With the general elections coming up next year, the Government
believes it would not be in its interest to levy a cess. The Finance Ministry had, right from the beginning,
expressed reservations over implementation of this "well-intended but not practical" scheme in which the
biggest hurdle would be the identification of the unorganised sector workers. (Hindu 20.12.03)

22nd Dec.
Education International meet condemns action on teachers (14)
HUBLI, DEC. 21.The Fourth Conference of the Education International (Asia Pacific Region) has come
down heavily on the Tamil Nadu Government for the action it had taken on employees including teachers
protesting against the unilateral cut in pensions and demanding restoration of bonus. At a resolution
passed at its recent meet held in Kaohsiung in Taiwan, the Conference condemned what it considered as
"unprecedented unilateral breach" of fundamental workers rights. It called upon the Tamil Nadu Govern-
ment to revoke this decision and unconditionally reinstate the dismissed workers. The Conference urged
the Educational International, the international body of educationists, to make use of all regional and
international avenues including the ILO, in seeking the intervention of the Indian Government to resolve
this matter.
A 13-member delegation led by Rampal Singh, president and Eswaran, secretary general of the All India
Primary Teachers Federation, (AIPTF), represented India at the conference. The resolution on the Tamil
Nadu situation was moved by Mr. Eswaran and adopted unanimously, according to B.F. Vijapur, vice
president of the AIPTF and a member of the Indian delegation. (Hindu 22.12.03)