Draft National Policy on Domestic Workers Under Consideration Posted On: 24 JUN 2019 6:08PM by PIB Delhi



  • A draft National Policy on domestic workers is under consideration of the Central Government. The salient features of the draft policy are as under:-


  • Inclusion of Domestic Workers in the existing legislations Domestic workers will have the right to register as workers. Such registration will facilitate their access to rights & benefits accruing to them as workers.


  • Right to form their own associations , trade unions Right to have minimum wages, access to social security, protection from abuse, harassment, violence Right to enhance their professional skills Protection of Domestic Workers from abuse and exploitation Domestic Workers to have access to courts, tribunals, etc.


  • Establishment of a mechanism for regulation of concerned placement agencies The Central Government has enacted the Unorganized Workers’ Social Security Act, 2008 for providing social security to all unorganized workers including domestic workers. The Act provides formulation of social security schemes viz. life and disability cover, health and maternity benefits & old age protection by the central Government.


  • The state Government are mandated under the Unorganized Workers’ Social Security Act, 2008 to formulate suitable welfare schemes for unorganized sector workers including domestic workers relating to provident fund, employment injury benefits housing, education schemes for children, skill up gradation of workers, financial assistance & old age homes




66,169 Child Labourers Rescued, Rehabilitated and Mainstreamed Under National Child Labour Project Scheme During 2018-19



  • Total 1,44,783 Child Labourers Rescued & Rehabilitated During Last three Years Posted On: 24 JUN 2019 6:05PM by PIB Delhi Child Labour is an outcome of various social-economic problems such as poverty, economic backwardness and illiteracy. Government is following a holistic and multi-pronged strategy for elimination of child labour completely.


  • The Government has amended the Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986 and enacted Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Amendment Act, 2016 which inter-alia covers complete prohibition on employment or work of children below 14 years of age in all occupations and processes; linking the age of the prohibition of employment with the age for free and compulsory education under Right to Education Act, 2009; prohibition on employment of adolescents ( 14 to 18 years of age) in hazardous occupations or processes and making stricter punishment for the employers contravening the provisions of the Act.


  • Subsequent to the amendment in Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986, Government has framed Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Amendment Rules, 2017.


  • The Government is also implementing the National Child Labour Project (NCLP) Scheme for rehabilitation of child labour. Under the NCLP Scheme, children in the age group of 9-14 years are rescued/withdrawn from work and enrolled in the NCLP Special Training Centres, where they are provided with bridge education, vocational training, mid day meal, stipend, health care, etc. before being mainstreamed into formal education system. Children in the age group of 5-8 years are directly linked to the formal education system through a close coordination with the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA).




Commom Service Centres



  • What are CSCs? Common Services Centers (CSCs) are a strategic cornerstone of the Digital India programme. They are the access points for delivery of various electronic services to villages in India, thereby contributing to a digitally and financially inclusive society.


  • They are multiple-services-single-point model for providing facilities for multiple transactions at a single geographical location. They are the access points for delivery of essential public utility services, social welfare schemes, healthcare, financial, education and agriculture services, apart from host of B2C services to citizens in rural and remote areas of the country.


  • CSCs enable the three vision areas of the Digital India programme: Digital infrastructure as a core utility to every citizen. Governance and services on demand. Digital empowerment of citizens.


  • Significance of CSCs: CSCs are more than service delivery points in rural India. They are positioned as change agents, promoting rural entrepreneurship and building rural capacities and livelihoods. They are enablers of community participation and collective action for engendering social change through a bottom-up approach with key focus on the rural citizen.


  • Key facts: The CSC project, which forms a strategic component of the National eGovernance Plan was approved by the Government in May 2006, as part of its commitment in the National Common Minimum Programme to introduce e-governance on a massive scale. It is also one of the approved projects under the Integrated Mission Mode Projects of the National eGovernance Plan.


  • CSC 2.0 Scheme: Based on the assessment of CSC scheme, the Government launched the CSC 2.0 scheme in 2015 to expand the outreach of CSCs to all Gram Panchayats across the country. Under CSC 2.0 scheme, at least one CSC will be set up in each of the 2.5 lakh GPs across the country by 2019. CSCs functioning under the existing scheme will also be strengthened and integrated with additional 1.5 lakh CSCs across the country.




National Freight Index



  • About NFI: This first-of-its-kind barometer of the road freight market in India is based on a Rivigo rate exchange. NFI gives a live spot rate on over 7 million lane and vehicle type combinations in the country.


  • NFI offers an aggregated picture of both live rates and historical trends of spot price movements in the road freight industry. The index is represented in two main forms: In terms of actual freight rates condensed to INR per ton-km and in terms of relative movement with respect to a base month.


  • Both the index and the exchange are based on Rivigo’s machine learning and economics powered pricing algorithms, which are continuously improving on accuracy. The rates on the exchange and index are computed using millions of data points from historical transactions, current market dynamics, micro market insights and other factors – with the ultimate purpose of giving a fair and precise representation of the state of the spot market in the country.


  • Significance and the need for NFI: In the existing logistics market structure, there are high inefficiencies due to information asymmetry, which leads to a great loss of value. NFI will enable unrestricted access and sharing of freight rate information. This will bring transparency in the market and propel the logistics sector towards efficiencies and growth.


  • Background: The Indian road freight market for 2018 is estimated to be in the range of USD 150-160 billion. About USD 130-140 billion of this is the Full Truck Load (FTL) market. Within this, Rivigo estimates that the spot freight market is about USD 110-130 billion and is growing at 9%-10% per year.