Month: November 2025

It seems that there is a free for all in USA.

There was a time when the Pope would sell ‘indulgences’ to all and sundry. And have their sins forgiven. The more egregious the sin, the more the amount to pay to cover up for it. Not much if that can guarantee you a place beyond the pearly gates in heaven.

Now Trump is out to trump that.

He is using the US Presidency as a cookie jar, with an unlimited number of cookies, and selling each cookie to whoever cares to pay his price.

In the above case, he has forgiven the jail sentence of a person who had defrauded thousands of investors, of a total of USD 1.60 billion. That’s a lot of cash. In fact, I reckon it would be enough to pay for a coveted cookie.

A constitution that allows this travesty, is a joke. And people who profess to put constitution over all else, are jokers.

The new labour codes proposed by the government are overall an improvement over the earlier antiquated labour laws.

However, it is retrograde as far as changes proposed for ESIC go.

Earlier, ESIC coverage was limited to notified areas and specific industries. It was not applicable for industries in rural areas which did not have ESIC clinics or hospitals.

Even for companies which were covered by ESIC, the monthly ESIC payment, borne by both the employer and employee, was largely a waste of money. Employees chose to ignore this facility in favour of going for Mediclaim, inspite of having paid for it.

Now, ESIC coverage and benefits are extended Pan-India.

This will shoot up the number of people enrolled manifold. The burden on companies will be in tens of thousands of crores. Without any commensurate benefit. ESIC, relic of the license Raj, will grow fatter still, a burden on industry without providing any commensurate benefits.

Instead, government should make ESIC voluntary and have companies offer either ESIC or similarly priced Mediclaim for all employees regardless of location. That will be real reform and will be of use to the employees.

Also, the new code should have been more flexible on the working hours and requirement for overtime. As far as minimum wages are being adhered to for the slated 48 hours per week, it should allow proportionately increasing hours with increased remuneration.