Welfare Schemes for Women Workers
Why in news?
- Union Minister for Labour and Employment informed Lok Sabha about the Welfare Schemes for Women Workers.
Key highlights:
- Schemes such as National Crèche Scheme, Working Women Hostel, Mahila Shakti Kendra Scheme, providing collateral free loan under Mudra scheme, Ujjwala Scheme for curbing trafficking etc. are being implemented for providing safe working condition to women workers.
- A number of protective provisions have been incorporated in various labour laws like
- Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 which provides for same wages for same and similar nature of work and prevents discrimination;
- Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 which provides for paid maternity leave for 26 weeks and mandatory crèche facility in the establishments having 50 or more employees.
- The special training programmes for women workers are being conducted by Dattopant Thengadi National Board for Workers Education and Development (erstwhile Central Board of Workers Education) through which women workers are made aware about their rights, duties and various protective provisions under various labour legislations.
Godavari and Kaveri River Linking Project
Why in news?
- The draft Detailed Project Report (DPR) of Godavari(Inchampalli / Janampet) – Cauvery (Grand Anicut) link project consisting of 3 links viz., Godavari (Inchampalli/Janampet) – Krishna (Nagarjunasagar), Krishna (Nagarjunasagar) – Pennar (Somasila) and Pennar (Somasila) – Cauvery (Grand Anicut) link projects has been completed by National Water Development Agency (NWDA) and sent to party States in March 2019.
Key highlights:
- As per the draft DPR, about 247 TMC can be diverted from Godavari river to Nagarjunsagar dam(through lifting) and further south for meeting the demands of Krishna, Pennar and Cauvery basins.
- As per the draft DPR, the cost of the project has been estimated as Rs.60361 Crore at 2018-19 price level by NWDA.
- The stage of implementation of a project would be reached after DPR is prepared with the consensus of concerned States and the requisite statutory clearances are obtained. Pooling of resources is decided after completion of final DPR.
SC/ST Amendment Act 2018
Why in news?
- The Supreme Court today upheld the constitutional validity of the SC/ST Amendment Act, 2018 which rules out anticipatory bail in case of atrocities against SC/STs.
Key highlights:
- Hearing a bunch of PILs, the Apex Court said, anticipatory bail can only be granted in cases where prima facie case is not made out.
• A bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra said, a preliminary inquiry is not essential before lodging an FIR
under the act nor is the approval of senior police officials.
Background:
- The SC/ST Amendment Act 2018 was brought to nullify the effect of a Supreme Court ruling which had diluted the provisions of the stringent Act.
- Earlier, on the 20th of March, 2018, taking note of rampant misuse of the stringent SC/ST Act, the top court ruled out the immediate arrest on any complaint filed under the law.