Update 126: Supreme Court Upholds Minimum Wages, Suicide by NREGA Worker Jagu Bhuiya in Jharkhand, and more

[Rozi Roti]

दोस्तों

केन्द्र सरकार ने उच्चतम न्यायलय में एक स्पेशल लीव पेटीशन  दायर कर के कर्नाटक उच्च न्यायालय के उस आदेश को चुनौती देने का फैसला किया जिसमें कहा गया था की केन्द्र सरकार को नरेगा मजदूरों को न्यूनतम मजदूरी देनी होगी (पूरा फैसला यहां पाया जा सकता है). उच्चतम न्यायलय ने कर्नाटक उच्च न्यायालय के निर्णय को ख़ारिज करने से इनकार कर दिया. निर्णय से संबंधित समाचार लेख इस अपडेट 2.2 अनुभाग में पाये जा सकते है. एक दुखद घटना में, जागू भुइयां, जो झारखंड के पलामू जिले में एक 55 वर्षीय दलित व्यक्ति थे और नरेगा में एक कुँए के लाभार्थी थे, ने आत्महत्या कर ली है. यह उन्होंने सरकार द्वारा सामग्री और मजदूरी लागत का भुगतान न होने की वजह की. पैसा न मिलने के कारण उनको मजदूरी और सामग्री की लगत का भुगतान अपनी जेब से करना पड़ा, जिसके कारण उन्होंने कई प्रकार के ऋण उड़ाने पड़े. अगर आप  रोज़गार के माध्यम से कुछ भेजना चाहते हैं तो roz...@gmail.com पर लिखें.

आशीष

Dear Friends

The Central Government decided to file a Special Leave Petition to challenge the Order of the Karnataka High Court requiring the Central Government to pay Minimum Wages to workers employed in public works under NREGA (the full text of the judgement can be found here). The Supreme Court refused to stay Karnataka High Court judgment dated September 23, 2011 mandating payment of minimum wages to NREGA workers. News articles related to the judgement can be found in section 2.2 of this Update. In a tragic development, Jagu Bhuiya, a 55 year old Dalit man in Jharkhand's Palamu district who was the beneficiary of an well committed suicide, mainly because of non-payment of material and wage costs of the well by the government. These costs were borne by Jagu Bhuiya himself, in the process of which he was forced to accumulate debts. A report can be found in section 5.1. There are other important items as well, such as "Development in Delhi" (section 1) and important media articles. If you want to circulate anything through Rozgar Updates, please send a line to roz...@gmail.com. 

Warmly

Aashish

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1. Development in Delhi

1.1 IAP districts: Wages in can be given in Cash [Guidelines here] and Construction of playgrounds can be taken under NREGA [Notification here, Guidelines here]

1.2 Letter to state governments recommending using 

1.3 Minutes of 15th Meeting of Central Employment Guarantee Council [Find here]

1.4 Guidelines for Convergence of NREGA with Total Sanitation Campaign [Find here]

1.5 Clarifications to State governments on Ombudsman Order [Find here]

2. Important Media Articles

2.1 In the states: The Sugar Lobby Benefits if NREGA Fails (Maharashtra), Sagria - The ghost farm-pond Whistleblower (Odisha) A Moment of Truth (Tamil Nadu), EGS vs NREGA in Maharashtra, States Fail to Pay Unemployment Allowance, Poor Labourers get Rs 1 per day instead of Rs 100 (Karnataka and Rajasthan), Tussle Between UP and Centre on NREGA Irregularities

2.2 Press Coverage on SC Decision to Pay Minimum Wages to NREGA Workers  

2.3 NREGA Status Report: Blocked Development (Lola Nayar in Outlook, Jan 16 2012)

3. Reports 

3.1 Report of the Working Group on NREGA towards Formulation of the 12th Plan [Find attached]

4. Prachar-Prasar

4.1 Gujarati Film on NREGA - Find here

4.2 Song "Kahab to Lag Jai Dhak Se" - Find here

5. From the Field

5.1 Suicide by NREGA Beneficiary Jagu Bhuiyan in Palamu, Jarkhand [Report here]

5.2 Status Report of NREGA in Madhya Pradesh [Prepared by Vikas Samvad, Bhopal; Find here]

5.3  Report on Survey on the NREGA in Palamu, Jharkhand [via James Herenj; Find attached]

5.4 Report Card on West Bengal Govt's Dismal record on Unorganised Sector/NREGA Workers [by  Asanghatit Khetra Shramik Sangrami Manch; Find attached]

The Asanghatit Khetra Shramik Sangrami Manch, a platform of 12 unions working for the rights of the unorganized sector workers, released a report, on 8^th December, 2011, at the Kolkata Press Club. The report comprised an assessment of the first 200 days of TMC Government's progress on issues and demands raised by the workers of the state. The press conference which was attended by various leading newspapers and news channels addressed a number of issues like the progress of the MNREGA (100 days of work), the public distribution system for cheap food, minimum wages, state of contract workers and forest rights. The Manch released a booklet containing data and information related to all the concerned issues addressed in the conference, and along with it, it also released a mark sheet on the Government's performance regarding the issues in question. The Government failed in four areas where their performance was assessed (MGNREGA, minimum wages, protection of contract workers and forest rights), and barely passed in one (public distribution system for cheap food).

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