Paying your maid less can land you in prison

Tamil Nadu Issues Notification Fixing Minimum Wage For ‘Unskilled’ Domestic Workers

Ekatha.Ann@timesgroup.com 02.08.2018

Paying your domestic help even a rupee less than ₹37 per hour for doing daily chores like sweeping, washing utensils and mopping can land you behind bars.

Enforcing labour reforms in the unorganized sector, the Tamil Nadu government in a recent notification has fixed ₹37 per hour as the minimum hourly wage of ‘unskilled’ domestic workers, while the remuneration for skilled workers like home nurses and semiskilled helps like cooks and gardeners have been set at ₹39 and ₹38 per hour respectively.

The rate for an entire day’s chores (eight hours), including washing clothes and utensils, sweeping and mopping the floor and babysitting, has been fixed at a minimum of ₹6,836 a month, while qualified home nurses should get at least ₹8,051 for similar hours. The remuneration for those who stay with their employers – skilled, unskilled and semi-skilled – is 10% higher than this.

The notification said the minimum wage was fixed based on recommendations from an eight-member committee headed by the deputy commissioner of labour, Coimbatore, after various meetings with domestic workers’ unions, labour inspectors and employers. “From January to June last year, we travelled to 10 districts and held discussions with domestic workers associations to understand their needs,” said a member of the committee. Besides interviews, the team also factored in the average consumer price index in Chennai city in 2015 while fixing the rate, she said.

While Tamil Nadu, along with Kerala, Rajasthan and Punjab, has been lauded for including domestic helps in the schedule of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 – entitling these workers to file cases before authorities concerned in this regard – Tamil Nadu has lagged in fixing a minimum wage.

Advocate David Sunder Singh, who deals with labour issues, said workers can seek legal recourse for labour and human rights violations. “If an employer pays less than an agreed sum, it is a labour issue. If an employer pays less than the minimum wage, it is a human rights violation,” he said. The burden of proof rests with the employers. Singh quoted a 1982 SC order which said if a person receives less than the minimum wage, it amounts to forced labour. The employers can be tried under the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976, Minimum Wages Act, 1948 and IPC Sections 370 and 374, which invite imprisonment of up to seven years with fine. “Even an oral agreement will suffice as evidence,” said Singh.

While the government has no clue about the number of domestic workers in TN, unions estimate it to be around 18 lakh, a majority of them are in the semi-skilled category.

The notification has evoked mixed reactions from employers and domestic workers.

Valarmathi of National Domestic Workers’ Movement said the minimum wage was too little. “When the government asked us for recommendation, we had suggested ₹75 per hour. The wage they have fixed now is what we had suggested in 2010. What we need is a living wage not a minimum wage,” said Valarmathi whose association has 2,000 members in Chennai. Although the notification said dearness allowance would go up with the increase in consumer price index, union leaders were sceptical. “Although the revision should be done annually, industrial workers don’t get it. The domestic sector is unmonitored” said T A Latha, head of south Chennai Metropolitan Domestic Workers’ Union, which has 5,000 members. She cautioned against minimum wage being used as a yardstick. “Employers shouldn’t pat themselves when they see they pay more than the minimum wage,” she said. Residents now pay between ₹2,000 and ₹6,000 a month for an hour’s work.

Employers, on the other hand, have appealed to the state for more specific guidelines. “It would have helped had the government specified how many days off workers are entitled to and when we are allowed to deduct their salary. Some of us bear with shoddy work and extended periods of leave because we find it difficult to find a replacement,” said T Mohan, a resident of Virgumbakkam.

Kapil, Gavaskar, Sidhu, Aamir get Imran invite

Omer Farooq Khan TNN

Islamabad: 02.08.2018

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) party said on Wednesday that it would like to invite Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other foreign heads of states to the PM-elect Imran Khan’s oath ceremony.

Though the party has already invited Indian celebrities like Aamir Khan, Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar and Navjot Singh Sidhu, it has asked the foreign office to confirm whether foreign heads of states could be invited to the PM’s swearing-in ceremony, scheduled to take place in Islamabad on August 11, three days before the country’s Independence Day.

A day earlier, the PTI had denied reports that it was considering inviting PM Modi and other heads of Saarc countries for the ceremony.



Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar, Aamir Khan & Navjot Singh Sidhu have been invited for the Aug 11 oath ceremony by Imran’s party PTI

PTI seeks nod on inviting Modi, other dignitaries

In an informal conversation with reporters, PTI spokesman Fawad Chaudhry said the party had asked the FO if it would be possible to invite foreign dignitaries, including Indian PM Modi, at a short notice. “The FO has yet to respond on the matter and we are waiting for it,” Chaudhry said.

He said the party had already invited celebrities like Amir Khan, Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar for the ceremony.

On Tuesday, Iftikhar Durrani, PTI’s media head, said, “We have note extended any invite nor was this issue

Marks-for-money racket at Anna University unearthed

DVAC FIR On Ex-Controller Of Exams, 9 Profs

Siddharth.Prabhakar@timesgroup.com 02.08.2018

Tens of thousands of engineering graduates from Anna University might have got their degrees by bribing professors who re-evaluated their answer sheets, an investigation by the directorate of vigilance and anti-corruption (DVAC) suggests. The agency filed an FIR on Tuesday naming former controller of examinations G V Uma and nine professors for rigging answer sheets for money.

TOI reported in May 2016 that 40% of candidates who applied for re-evaluation since 2011 had got more marks. The DVAC probe found students paid ₹10,000 as bribe for each re-evaluated paper of the April-May 2017 exams. Some 3,02,380 students had applied for re-evaluation, of which 73,733 students passed and 16,636 students got higher marks after the recheck. Between 2015 and 2018, Uma was in charge of exams and re-evaluation of papers for the university’s 530 affiliated colleges which annually admit 1.5 lakh students. The FIR said Uma, along with assistant professors P Vijayakumar and R Sivakumar took money to forge answer scripts and increase marks.

The other seven accused are examiners responsible for coordinating and conducting the reevaluation process at the University College of Engineering, Tindivanam, where the scam was uncovered. “When they smelled trouble, they destroyed a large number of answer scripts,” said an official. The officers, however, managed to get around 100 scripts as evidence.

Uma, meanwhile, said the charges were false. “I’m true to my conscience ... God is with me,” she said. DVAC has slapped cheating and forgery charges, and seized property documents after raids at houses of Uma, Vijaykumar and Sivakumar.

4-month-old dies on flight from Bengaluru to Patna

Hyderabad:01.08.2018

An IndiGo flight from Bengaluru to Patna was diverted to Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA), on Tuesday, after a four-month-old boy developed health complications on board. The infant was rushed to the Apollo clinic at RGIA where, according to police, he was declared brought dead.

The Patna-bound IndiGo flight 6E 897, took off from Bengaluru at 6.09am. An hour-and-half later, the flight was diverted to the Shamshabad facility as baby Sparsh, travelling with his parents, Sandeep Kumar and Puneeta Sharma, developed breathing problems, RGIA SI Venkateswarulu said. By the time the flight landed in Hyderabad, authorities had made necessary arrangements to attend to the infant.

“The baby was brought to the emergency room of the Apollo clinic at RGIA around 7.45am. On examination, doctors confirmed that he was brought dead. While the actual cause of his death is not known, the doctors attending to the baby noticed slight bleeding from his nose,” said a source from Apollo hospital. Meanwhile, speaking about travelling with infants, hyderabad doctors said, “Any infant aged over two months can travel by air provided the child is not suffering from any major illness.” “Many a times, a mother makes the mistake of feeding a child during the flight without knowing that it can cause aspiration, with solid or liquid food entering the airway and lungs,” said Altaf Naseem, director, Candy Children's Hospital. TNN

City may soon see new bicycle sharing service

Karthik Madhavan

COIMBATORE, AUGUST 01, 2018 00:00 IST

The Coimbatore Corporation is planning another bicycle sharing system in a few months.S. Siva SaravananS_SIVA SARAVANAN

In a couple of months from now, the city may soon see a new bicycle sharing service. According to sources in the Coimbatore Corporation, the civic body has begun negotiations with a company that has evinced interest to launch service in the city.

The move comes close on the heels of the exit of 'ofo', a company that launched its service in and around R.S. Puram and wound up a couple of months ago after six months of trial period.

Sources say another round of negotiations will take place shortly with the company representatives, where it will be decided where they will operate, the number of bicycles they will launch and other details.

This again, will be for six months or so after which based on mutual consent, the civic body will extend permission for the company to operate in the city.

The civic body is looking at an area other than R.S. Puram for launching the service. The sources point out that the city's response to bicycle sharing by ofo was better than expected and vandalism was less than expected. But hoarding of bicycles was a major concern. The sources add that based on the experience gained from the bicycle sharing experiment, the Corporation is looking at facilitating a round-the-year bicycle service for the city by going in for a revenue sharing model. While the bicycle service provider will get to advertise in the bicycles, the company will have to share a part of the revenue gained by advertising with the Corporation.

Evening rain likely for a few days

STAFF REPORTER

CHENNAI, AUGUST 01, 2018 00:00 IST

In a welcome relief from the searing heat of the last few days, the city experienced light showers on Tuesday evening, which is likely to continue for a few more days.

Various areas in the city, including Alwarpet, Anna Salai and Chennai airport, experienced light showers. “The strengthening of westerly winds has caused the light rain. In the next few days, the forenoons will be warm and evenings will experience thunderstorms,” a Meteorological Department official said.

While Nungambakkam recorded 3.3 mm of rainfall, Meenambakkam recorded 10 mm. The dip in temperature brought much needed relief from the heat for residents.

Not just the city, parts of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry too experienced showers. Cuddalore, Tiruvarur and Villupuram saw light rain. Nagapattinam and Valparai recorded 3 cm of rainfall. This is likely to persist for the next 2-3 days and the sky will be cloudy and there may be light rain or thunderstorms in some districts.

Report sought on denial of college seat to transperson

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

CHENNAI, AUGUST 01, 2018 00:00 IST

She had applied for nursing course

Taking suo motu cognisance of a media report of a transperson having been denied admission into a nursing programme, the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has ordered issue of notice to the authorities and has sought an action taken report.

State Human Rights Commission member D. Jayachandran directed the Health Secretary and the Director of Medical Education to submit their action taken report within two weeks.

He sought to know as to why the transperson — Tamilselvi — was not provided admission to a government nursing college at the appropriate time.

The State Human Rights Commission also wondered whether denying her admission into the nursing programme would constitute a violation of human rights.

Juggling responsibility

According to the media report, Tamilselvi from Vellore secured 74% of marks in the Class XII examination and applied for a nursing course.

While she was denied admission in government colleges, a private college, which initially accepted her application, rejected it later.

When Tamilselvi approached the Directorate of Medical Education, it directed her to the Nursing Council of India, which in turn pointed to a judgment of the Supreme Court.

The judgment said that it was up to the respective State governments to take a call.

The report added that there was no response to Tamilselvi’s plea for euthanasia addressed to the Health Secretary even after three months.