Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 73
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Code Context


        trigger_error($message, E_USER_DEPRECATED);

    }
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 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php.'
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deprecationWarning - CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311
Cake\Http\ServerRequest::offsetGet() - CORE/src/Http/ServerRequest.php, line 2421
App\Controller\ArtileDetailController::printArticle() - APP/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line 73
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Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 120
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Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
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Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
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Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51
Cake\Http\Server::run() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 98

Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 74
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Code Context


        trigger_error($message, E_USER_DEPRECATED);

    }
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 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php.'
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deprecationWarning - CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311
Cake\Http\ServerRequest::offsetGet() - CORE/src/Http/ServerRequest.php, line 2421
App\Controller\ArtileDetailController::printArticle() - APP/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line 74
Cake\Controller\Controller::invokeAction() - CORE/src/Controller/Controller.php, line 610
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 120
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 94
Cake\Http\BaseApplication::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/BaseApplication.php, line 235
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/RoutingMiddleware.php, line 162
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/AssetMiddleware.php, line 88
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51
Cake\Http\Server::run() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 98

Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Code Context
            if (Configure::read('debug')) {

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&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Affluent farmers are exploiting MGNREGS, the central govt&amp;rsquo;s flagship programme, sending their workers to draw wages whenever they are not required on their farms&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
THE GOVERNMENT seems to be in a fix with its flagship Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) being widely misused even as the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) decides to conduct its own independent audit of the scheme along with National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
New rural development minister Jairam Ramesh has, however, taken it up as challenge, trying to synchronise the employment guarantee programme with the ground realities and prevent the leakages in implementation at the district level.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The nhrc is conducting a review of these programmes that would be reported to the UN Human Rights Commission in 2012 as its officials says &amp;ldquo;it is important to do an audit of what impact the flagship schemes have had on the well-being of the poor as there is growing evidence of diversion of funds meant for these schemes.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The mgnregs guarantees 100 days of work to anybody coming forward in villages for the manual work, but the average number of days of employment under the scheme has been 47. Hence, the nhrc wants to explore if there is misuse of funds or denial of commitment made by the government.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Affluent farmers are exploiting the employment guarantee scheme to send their labour to draw wages from the government whenever not required on the farms. They are also putting pressure on the government to suspend the mgnregs during the peak farming periods to ensure they do not have to pay high labour.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The government cannot issue any order officially to shut down works under the scheme as the law binds it not to deny employment to anybody turning up for work, and the rural development ministry has &amp;ldquo;informally&amp;rdquo; asked the states to suspend these works during the sowing and harvesting season.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The state governments too are exploiting the scheme to pressurise the ministry repeatedly to match the wages under the scheme with the minimum wages statutorily notified in their states. They first revise the minimum wages and then seek revision of the wages under the scheme.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Last week, Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal demanded that the daily wage rate under the scheme be raised to Rs 200 as the present wage rate, that is Rs 133 per day, does not match the minimum wage fixed by his government at Rs 153.81 without meals. Ramesh had a tough time explaining Badal that the scheme is not to provide the minimum wage but a guarantee of wage to people not getting employment or wage otherwise. He is already examining the problem passed on from his predecessors who have raised the wage under the scheme above the minimum wage in many states because of such pressure as it is resulting in the non-availability of the labour for the agricultural works. For instance, Haryana has fixed the minimum agriculture wage at Rs 167 per day while it has compelled the Centre to fix the mgnregs wage at Rs 179 per day.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
There are many states where farm labour is easily available because of wage under the scheme being higher than the minimum wage rate.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
There are, however, other states where the scheme wage is lower than the minimum wage, giving ngos a chance to accuse the government of perpetuating forced labour in clear violation of its own laws on the minimum wages. The Centre had, in fact, tried to freeze the scheme wage at Rs 100 per day across the country through a notification in January 2009 but it had to withdraw it under protest from the states and the ngos that it was unjust as the wages varied from state to state and there can not be a uniform wage all over India.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Iftikhar Gilani is a Special Correspondent with Tehelka.com. &lt;br /&gt;
iftikhar@tehelka.com&lt;/em&gt;
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Affluent farmers are exploiting MGNREGS, the central govt&amp;rsquo;s flagship programme, sending their workers to draw wages whenever they are not required on their farms

THE GOVERNMENT seems to be in a fix with its flagship Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee...&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Affluent farmers are exploiting MGNREGS, the central govt&amp;rsquo;s flagship programme, sending their workers to draw wages whenever they are not required on their farms&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;THE GOVERNMENT seems to be in a fix with its flagship Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) being widely misused even as the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) decides to conduct its own independent audit of the scheme along with National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;New rural development minister Jairam Ramesh has, however, taken it up as challenge, trying to synchronise the employment guarantee programme with the ground realities and prevent the leakages in implementation at the district level.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The nhrc is conducting a review of these programmes that would be reported to the UN Human Rights Commission in 2012 as its officials says &amp;ldquo;it is important to do an audit of what impact the flagship schemes have had on the well-being of the poor as there is growing evidence of diversion of funds meant for these schemes.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The mgnregs guarantees 100 days of work to anybody coming forward in villages for the manual work, but the average number of days of employment under the scheme has been 47. Hence, the nhrc wants to explore if there is misuse of funds or denial of commitment made by the government.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Affluent farmers are exploiting the employment guarantee scheme to send their labour to draw wages from the government whenever not required on the farms. They are also putting pressure on the government to suspend the mgnregs during the peak farming periods to ensure they do not have to pay high labour.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The government cannot issue any order officially to shut down works under the scheme as the law binds it not to deny employment to anybody turning up for work, and the rural development ministry has &amp;ldquo;informally&amp;rdquo; asked the states to suspend these works during the sowing and harvesting season.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The state governments too are exploiting the scheme to pressurise the ministry repeatedly to match the wages under the scheme with the minimum wages statutorily notified in their states. They first revise the minimum wages and then seek revision of the wages under the scheme.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Last week, Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal demanded that the daily wage rate under the scheme be raised to Rs 200 as the present wage rate, that is Rs 133 per day, does not match the minimum wage fixed by his government at Rs 153.81 without meals. Ramesh had a tough time explaining Badal that the scheme is not to provide the minimum wage but a guarantee of wage to people not getting employment or wage otherwise. He is already examining the problem passed on from his predecessors who have raised the wage under the scheme above the minimum wage in many states because of such pressure as it is resulting in the non-availability of the labour for the agricultural works. For instance, Haryana has fixed the minimum agriculture wage at Rs 167 per day while it has compelled the Centre to fix the mgnregs wage at Rs 179 per day.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There are many states where farm labour is easily available because of wage under the scheme being higher than the minimum wage rate.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There are, however, other states where the scheme wage is lower than the minimum wage, giving ngos a chance to accuse the government of perpetuating forced labour in clear violation of its own laws on the minimum wages. The Centre had, in fact, tried to freeze the scheme wage at Rs 100 per day across the country through a notification in January 2009 but it had to withdraw it under protest from the states and the ngos that it was unjust as the wages varied from state to state and there can not be a uniform wage all over India.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Iftikhar Gilani is a Special Correspondent with Tehelka.com. &lt;br /&gt;iftikhar@tehelka.com&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
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Affluent farmers are exploiting MGNREGS, the central govt&amp;rsquo;s flagship programme, sending their workers to draw wages whenever they are not required on their farms&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
THE GOVERNMENT seems to be in a fix with its flagship Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) being widely misused even as the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) decides to conduct its own independent audit of the scheme along with National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
New rural development minister Jairam Ramesh has, however, taken it up as challenge, trying to synchronise the employment guarantee programme with the ground realities and prevent the leakages in implementation at the district level.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The nhrc is conducting a review of these programmes that would be reported to the UN Human Rights Commission in 2012 as its officials says &amp;ldquo;it is important to do an audit of what impact the flagship schemes have had on the well-being of the poor as there is growing evidence of diversion of funds meant for these schemes.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The mgnregs guarantees 100 days of work to anybody coming forward in villages for the manual work, but the average number of days of employment under the scheme has been 47. Hence, the nhrc wants to explore if there is misuse of funds or denial of commitment made by the government.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Affluent farmers are exploiting the employment guarantee scheme to send their labour to draw wages from the government whenever not required on the farms. They are also putting pressure on the government to suspend the mgnregs during the peak farming periods to ensure they do not have to pay high labour.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The government cannot issue any order officially to shut down works under the scheme as the law binds it not to deny employment to anybody turning up for work, and the rural development ministry has &amp;ldquo;informally&amp;rdquo; asked the states to suspend these works during the sowing and harvesting season.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The state governments too are exploiting the scheme to pressurise the ministry repeatedly to match the wages under the scheme with the minimum wages statutorily notified in their states. They first revise the minimum wages and then seek revision of the wages under the scheme.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Last week, Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal demanded that the daily wage rate under the scheme be raised to Rs 200 as the present wage rate, that is Rs 133 per day, does not match the minimum wage fixed by his government at Rs 153.81 without meals. Ramesh had a tough time explaining Badal that the scheme is not to provide the minimum wage but a guarantee of wage to people not getting employment or wage otherwise. He is already examining the problem passed on from his predecessors who have raised the wage under the scheme above the minimum wage in many states because of such pressure as it is resulting in the non-availability of the labour for the agricultural works. For instance, Haryana has fixed the minimum agriculture wage at Rs 167 per day while it has compelled the Centre to fix the mgnregs wage at Rs 179 per day.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
There are many states where farm labour is easily available because of wage under the scheme being higher than the minimum wage rate.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
There are, however, other states where the scheme wage is lower than the minimum wage, giving ngos a chance to accuse the government of perpetuating forced labour in clear violation of its own laws on the minimum wages. The Centre had, in fact, tried to freeze the scheme wage at Rs 100 per day across the country through a notification in January 2009 but it had to withdraw it under protest from the states and the ngos that it was unjust as the wages varied from state to state and there can not be a uniform wage all over India.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Iftikhar Gilani is a Special Correspondent with Tehelka.com. &lt;br /&gt;
iftikhar@tehelka.com&lt;/em&gt;
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Affluent farmers are exploiting MGNREGS, the central govt&amp;rsquo;s flagship programme, sending their workers to draw wages whenever they are not required on their farms

THE GOVERNMENT seems to be in a fix with its flagship Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee...&#039;
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Affluent farmers are exploiting MGNREGS, the central govt&rsquo;s flagship programme, sending their workers to draw wages whenever they are not required on their farms

THE GOVERNMENT seems to be in a fix with its flagship Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee..."/>
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                <strong>Govt in lurch over rural job scheme by Iftikhar Gilani</strong></h1>
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                <br /><div align="justify">Affluent farmers are exploiting MGNREGS, the central govt&rsquo;s flagship programme, sending their workers to draw wages whenever they are not required on their farms<br /><br />THE GOVERNMENT seems to be in a fix with its flagship Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) being widely misused even as the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) decides to conduct its own independent audit of the scheme along with National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS).<br /><br />New rural development minister Jairam Ramesh has, however, taken it up as challenge, trying to synchronise the employment guarantee programme with the ground realities and prevent the leakages in implementation at the district level.<br /><br />The nhrc is conducting a review of these programmes that would be reported to the UN Human Rights Commission in 2012 as its officials says &ldquo;it is important to do an audit of what impact the flagship schemes have had on the well-being of the poor as there is growing evidence of diversion of funds meant for these schemes.&rdquo;<br /><br />The mgnregs guarantees 100 days of work to anybody coming forward in villages for the manual work, but the average number of days of employment under the scheme has been 47. Hence, the nhrc wants to explore if there is misuse of funds or denial of commitment made by the government.<br /><br />Affluent farmers are exploiting the employment guarantee scheme to send their labour to draw wages from the government whenever not required on the farms. They are also putting pressure on the government to suspend the mgnregs during the peak farming periods to ensure they do not have to pay high labour.<br /><br />The government cannot issue any order officially to shut down works under the scheme as the law binds it not to deny employment to anybody turning up for work, and the rural development ministry has &ldquo;informally&rdquo; asked the states to suspend these works during the sowing and harvesting season.<br /><br />The state governments too are exploiting the scheme to pressurise the ministry repeatedly to match the wages under the scheme with the minimum wages statutorily notified in their states. They first revise the minimum wages and then seek revision of the wages under the scheme.<br /><br />Last week, Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal demanded that the daily wage rate under the scheme be raised to Rs 200 as the present wage rate, that is Rs 133 per day, does not match the minimum wage fixed by his government at Rs 153.81 without meals. Ramesh had a tough time explaining Badal that the scheme is not to provide the minimum wage but a guarantee of wage to people not getting employment or wage otherwise. He is already examining the problem passed on from his predecessors who have raised the wage under the scheme above the minimum wage in many states because of such pressure as it is resulting in the non-availability of the labour for the agricultural works. For instance, Haryana has fixed the minimum agriculture wage at Rs 167 per day while it has compelled the Centre to fix the mgnregs wage at Rs 179 per day.<br /><br />There are many states where farm labour is easily available because of wage under the scheme being higher than the minimum wage rate.<br /><br />There are, however, other states where the scheme wage is lower than the minimum wage, giving ngos a chance to accuse the government of perpetuating forced labour in clear violation of its own laws on the minimum wages. The Centre had, in fact, tried to freeze the scheme wage at Rs 100 per day across the country through a notification in January 2009 but it had to withdraw it under protest from the states and the ngos that it was unjust as the wages varied from state to state and there can not be a uniform wage all over India.<br /><br /><em>Iftikhar Gilani is a Special Correspondent with Tehelka.com. <br />iftikhar@tehelka.com</em></div>               </font>
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&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Affluent farmers are exploiting MGNREGS, the central govt&amp;rsquo;s flagship programme, sending their workers to draw wages whenever they are not required on their farms&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
THE GOVERNMENT seems to be in a fix with its flagship Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) being widely misused even as the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) decides to conduct its own independent audit of the scheme along with National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
New rural development minister Jairam Ramesh has, however, taken it up as challenge, trying to synchronise the employment guarantee programme with the ground realities and prevent the leakages in implementation at the district level.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The nhrc is conducting a review of these programmes that would be reported to the UN Human Rights Commission in 2012 as its officials says &amp;ldquo;it is important to do an audit of what impact the flagship schemes have had on the well-being of the poor as there is growing evidence of diversion of funds meant for these schemes.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The mgnregs guarantees 100 days of work to anybody coming forward in villages for the manual work, but the average number of days of employment under the scheme has been 47. Hence, the nhrc wants to explore if there is misuse of funds or denial of commitment made by the government.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Affluent farmers are exploiting the employment guarantee scheme to send their labour to draw wages from the government whenever not required on the farms. They are also putting pressure on the government to suspend the mgnregs during the peak farming periods to ensure they do not have to pay high labour.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The government cannot issue any order officially to shut down works under the scheme as the law binds it not to deny employment to anybody turning up for work, and the rural development ministry has &amp;ldquo;informally&amp;rdquo; asked the states to suspend these works during the sowing and harvesting season.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The state governments too are exploiting the scheme to pressurise the ministry repeatedly to match the wages under the scheme with the minimum wages statutorily notified in their states. They first revise the minimum wages and then seek revision of the wages under the scheme.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Last week, Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal demanded that the daily wage rate under the scheme be raised to Rs 200 as the present wage rate, that is Rs 133 per day, does not match the minimum wage fixed by his government at Rs 153.81 without meals. Ramesh had a tough time explaining Badal that the scheme is not to provide the minimum wage but a guarantee of wage to people not getting employment or wage otherwise. He is already examining the problem passed on from his predecessors who have raised the wage under the scheme above the minimum wage in many states because of such pressure as it is resulting in the non-availability of the labour for the agricultural works. For instance, Haryana has fixed the minimum agriculture wage at Rs 167 per day while it has compelled the Centre to fix the mgnregs wage at Rs 179 per day.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
There are many states where farm labour is easily available because of wage under the scheme being higher than the minimum wage rate.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
There are, however, other states where the scheme wage is lower than the minimum wage, giving ngos a chance to accuse the government of perpetuating forced labour in clear violation of its own laws on the minimum wages. The Centre had, in fact, tried to freeze the scheme wage at Rs 100 per day across the country through a notification in January 2009 but it had to withdraw it under protest from the states and the ngos that it was unjust as the wages varied from state to state and there can not be a uniform wage all over India.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Iftikhar Gilani is a Special Correspondent with Tehelka.com. &lt;br /&gt;
iftikhar@tehelka.com&lt;/em&gt;
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Affluent farmers are exploiting MGNREGS, the central govt&amp;rsquo;s flagship programme, sending their workers to draw wages whenever they are not required on their farms

THE GOVERNMENT seems to be in a fix with its flagship Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee...&#039;,
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Affluent farmers are exploiting MGNREGS, the central govt&amp;rsquo;s flagship programme, sending their workers to draw wages whenever they are not required on their farms&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
THE GOVERNMENT seems to be in a fix with its flagship Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) being widely misused even as the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) decides to conduct its own independent audit of the scheme along with National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
New rural development minister Jairam Ramesh has, however, taken it up as challenge, trying to synchronise the employment guarantee programme with the ground realities and prevent the leakages in implementation at the district level.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The nhrc is conducting a review of these programmes that would be reported to the UN Human Rights Commission in 2012 as its officials says &amp;ldquo;it is important to do an audit of what impact the flagship schemes have had on the well-being of the poor as there is growing evidence of diversion of funds meant for these schemes.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The mgnregs guarantees 100 days of work to anybody coming forward in villages for the manual work, but the average number of days of employment under the scheme has been 47. Hence, the nhrc wants to explore if there is misuse of funds or denial of commitment made by the government.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Affluent farmers are exploiting the employment guarantee scheme to send their labour to draw wages from the government whenever not required on the farms. They are also putting pressure on the government to suspend the mgnregs during the peak farming periods to ensure they do not have to pay high labour.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The government cannot issue any order officially to shut down works under the scheme as the law binds it not to deny employment to anybody turning up for work, and the rural development ministry has &amp;ldquo;informally&amp;rdquo; asked the states to suspend these works during the sowing and harvesting season.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The state governments too are exploiting the scheme to pressurise the ministry repeatedly to match the wages under the scheme with the minimum wages statutorily notified in their states. They first revise the minimum wages and then seek revision of the wages under the scheme.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Last week, Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal demanded that the daily wage rate under the scheme be raised to Rs 200 as the present wage rate, that is Rs 133 per day, does not match the minimum wage fixed by his government at Rs 153.81 without meals. Ramesh had a tough time explaining Badal that the scheme is not to provide the minimum wage but a guarantee of wage to people not getting employment or wage otherwise. He is already examining the problem passed on from his predecessors who have raised the wage under the scheme above the minimum wage in many states because of such pressure as it is resulting in the non-availability of the labour for the agricultural works. For instance, Haryana has fixed the minimum agriculture wage at Rs 167 per day while it has compelled the Centre to fix the mgnregs wage at Rs 179 per day.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
There are many states where farm labour is easily available because of wage under the scheme being higher than the minimum wage rate.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
There are, however, other states where the scheme wage is lower than the minimum wage, giving ngos a chance to accuse the government of perpetuating forced labour in clear violation of its own laws on the minimum wages. The Centre had, in fact, tried to freeze the scheme wage at Rs 100 per day across the country through a notification in January 2009 but it had to withdraw it under protest from the states and the ngos that it was unjust as the wages varied from state to state and there can not be a uniform wage all over India.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Iftikhar Gilani is a Special Correspondent with Tehelka.com. &lt;br /&gt;
iftikhar@tehelka.com&lt;/em&gt;
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Affluent farmers are exploiting MGNREGS, the central govt&amp;rsquo;s flagship programme, sending their workers to draw wages whenever they are not required on their farms

THE GOVERNMENT seems to be in a fix with its flagship Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee...&#039;
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Affluent farmers are exploiting MGNREGS, the central govt&rsquo;s flagship programme, sending their workers to draw wages whenever they are not required on their farms

THE GOVERNMENT seems to be in a fix with its flagship Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee..."/>
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                <strong>Govt in lurch over rural job scheme by Iftikhar Gilani</strong></h1>
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                <br /><div align="justify">Affluent farmers are exploiting MGNREGS, the central govt&rsquo;s flagship programme, sending their workers to draw wages whenever they are not required on their farms<br /><br />THE GOVERNMENT seems to be in a fix with its flagship Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) being widely misused even as the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) decides to conduct its own independent audit of the scheme along with National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS).<br /><br />New rural development minister Jairam Ramesh has, however, taken it up as challenge, trying to synchronise the employment guarantee programme with the ground realities and prevent the leakages in implementation at the district level.<br /><br />The nhrc is conducting a review of these programmes that would be reported to the UN Human Rights Commission in 2012 as its officials says &ldquo;it is important to do an audit of what impact the flagship schemes have had on the well-being of the poor as there is growing evidence of diversion of funds meant for these schemes.&rdquo;<br /><br />The mgnregs guarantees 100 days of work to anybody coming forward in villages for the manual work, but the average number of days of employment under the scheme has been 47. Hence, the nhrc wants to explore if there is misuse of funds or denial of commitment made by the government.<br /><br />Affluent farmers are exploiting the employment guarantee scheme to send their labour to draw wages from the government whenever not required on the farms. They are also putting pressure on the government to suspend the mgnregs during the peak farming periods to ensure they do not have to pay high labour.<br /><br />The government cannot issue any order officially to shut down works under the scheme as the law binds it not to deny employment to anybody turning up for work, and the rural development ministry has &ldquo;informally&rdquo; asked the states to suspend these works during the sowing and harvesting season.<br /><br />The state governments too are exploiting the scheme to pressurise the ministry repeatedly to match the wages under the scheme with the minimum wages statutorily notified in their states. They first revise the minimum wages and then seek revision of the wages under the scheme.<br /><br />Last week, Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal demanded that the daily wage rate under the scheme be raised to Rs 200 as the present wage rate, that is Rs 133 per day, does not match the minimum wage fixed by his government at Rs 153.81 without meals. Ramesh had a tough time explaining Badal that the scheme is not to provide the minimum wage but a guarantee of wage to people not getting employment or wage otherwise. He is already examining the problem passed on from his predecessors who have raised the wage under the scheme above the minimum wage in many states because of such pressure as it is resulting in the non-availability of the labour for the agricultural works. For instance, Haryana has fixed the minimum agriculture wage at Rs 167 per day while it has compelled the Centre to fix the mgnregs wage at Rs 179 per day.<br /><br />There are many states where farm labour is easily available because of wage under the scheme being higher than the minimum wage rate.<br /><br />There are, however, other states where the scheme wage is lower than the minimum wage, giving ngos a chance to accuse the government of perpetuating forced labour in clear violation of its own laws on the minimum wages. The Centre had, in fact, tried to freeze the scheme wage at Rs 100 per day across the country through a notification in January 2009 but it had to withdraw it under protest from the states and the ngos that it was unjust as the wages varied from state to state and there can not be a uniform wage all over India.<br /><br /><em>Iftikhar Gilani is a Special Correspondent with Tehelka.com. <br />iftikhar@tehelka.com</em></div>               </font>
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&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Affluent farmers are exploiting MGNREGS, the central govt&amp;rsquo;s flagship programme, sending their workers to draw wages whenever they are not required on their farms&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
THE GOVERNMENT seems to be in a fix with its flagship Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) being widely misused even as the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) decides to conduct its own independent audit of the scheme along with National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
New rural development minister Jairam Ramesh has, however, taken it up as challenge, trying to synchronise the employment guarantee programme with the ground realities and prevent the leakages in implementation at the district level.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The nhrc is conducting a review of these programmes that would be reported to the UN Human Rights Commission in 2012 as its officials says &amp;ldquo;it is important to do an audit of what impact the flagship schemes have had on the well-being of the poor as there is growing evidence of diversion of funds meant for these schemes.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The mgnregs guarantees 100 days of work to anybody coming forward in villages for the manual work, but the average number of days of employment under the scheme has been 47. Hence, the nhrc wants to explore if there is misuse of funds or denial of commitment made by the government.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Affluent farmers are exploiting the employment guarantee scheme to send their labour to draw wages from the government whenever not required on the farms. They are also putting pressure on the government to suspend the mgnregs during the peak farming periods to ensure they do not have to pay high labour.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The government cannot issue any order officially to shut down works under the scheme as the law binds it not to deny employment to anybody turning up for work, and the rural development ministry has &amp;ldquo;informally&amp;rdquo; asked the states to suspend these works during the sowing and harvesting season.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The state governments too are exploiting the scheme to pressurise the ministry repeatedly to match the wages under the scheme with the minimum wages statutorily notified in their states. They first revise the minimum wages and then seek revision of the wages under the scheme.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Last week, Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal demanded that the daily wage rate under the scheme be raised to Rs 200 as the present wage rate, that is Rs 133 per day, does not match the minimum wage fixed by his government at Rs 153.81 without meals. Ramesh had a tough time explaining Badal that the scheme is not to provide the minimum wage but a guarantee of wage to people not getting employment or wage otherwise. He is already examining the problem passed on from his predecessors who have raised the wage under the scheme above the minimum wage in many states because of such pressure as it is resulting in the non-availability of the labour for the agricultural works. For instance, Haryana has fixed the minimum agriculture wage at Rs 167 per day while it has compelled the Centre to fix the mgnregs wage at Rs 179 per day.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
There are many states where farm labour is easily available because of wage under the scheme being higher than the minimum wage rate.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
There are, however, other states where the scheme wage is lower than the minimum wage, giving ngos a chance to accuse the government of perpetuating forced labour in clear violation of its own laws on the minimum wages. The Centre had, in fact, tried to freeze the scheme wage at Rs 100 per day across the country through a notification in January 2009 but it had to withdraw it under protest from the states and the ngos that it was unjust as the wages varied from state to state and there can not be a uniform wage all over India.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Iftikhar Gilani is a Special Correspondent with Tehelka.com. &lt;br /&gt;
iftikhar@tehelka.com&lt;/em&gt;
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Affluent farmers are exploiting MGNREGS, the central govt&amp;rsquo;s flagship programme, sending their workers to draw wages whenever they are not required on their farms

THE GOVERNMENT seems to be in a fix with its flagship Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee...&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Affluent farmers are exploiting MGNREGS, the central govt&amp;rsquo;s flagship programme, sending their workers to draw wages whenever they are not required on their farms&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;THE GOVERNMENT seems to be in a fix with its flagship Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) being widely misused even as the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) decides to conduct its own independent audit of the scheme along with National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;New rural development minister Jairam Ramesh has, however, taken it up as challenge, trying to synchronise the employment guarantee programme with the ground realities and prevent the leakages in implementation at the district level.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The nhrc is conducting a review of these programmes that would be reported to the UN Human Rights Commission in 2012 as its officials says &amp;ldquo;it is important to do an audit of what impact the flagship schemes have had on the well-being of the poor as there is growing evidence of diversion of funds meant for these schemes.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The mgnregs guarantees 100 days of work to anybody coming forward in villages for the manual work, but the average number of days of employment under the scheme has been 47. Hence, the nhrc wants to explore if there is misuse of funds or denial of commitment made by the government.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Affluent farmers are exploiting the employment guarantee scheme to send their labour to draw wages from the government whenever not required on the farms. They are also putting pressure on the government to suspend the mgnregs during the peak farming periods to ensure they do not have to pay high labour.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The government cannot issue any order officially to shut down works under the scheme as the law binds it not to deny employment to anybody turning up for work, and the rural development ministry has &amp;ldquo;informally&amp;rdquo; asked the states to suspend these works during the sowing and harvesting season.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The state governments too are exploiting the scheme to pressurise the ministry repeatedly to match the wages under the scheme with the minimum wages statutorily notified in their states. They first revise the minimum wages and then seek revision of the wages under the scheme.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Last week, Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal demanded that the daily wage rate under the scheme be raised to Rs 200 as the present wage rate, that is Rs 133 per day, does not match the minimum wage fixed by his government at Rs 153.81 without meals. Ramesh had a tough time explaining Badal that the scheme is not to provide the minimum wage but a guarantee of wage to people not getting employment or wage otherwise. He is already examining the problem passed on from his predecessors who have raised the wage under the scheme above the minimum wage in many states because of such pressure as it is resulting in the non-availability of the labour for the agricultural works. For instance, Haryana has fixed the minimum agriculture wage at Rs 167 per day while it has compelled the Centre to fix the mgnregs wage at Rs 179 per day.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There are many states where farm labour is easily available because of wage under the scheme being higher than the minimum wage rate.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There are, however, other states where the scheme wage is lower than the minimum wage, giving ngos a chance to accuse the government of perpetuating forced labour in clear violation of its own laws on the minimum wages. The Centre had, in fact, tried to freeze the scheme wage at Rs 100 per day across the country through a notification in January 2009 but it had to withdraw it under protest from the states and the ngos that it was unjust as the wages varied from state to state and there can not be a uniform wage all over India.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Iftikhar Gilani is a Special Correspondent with Tehelka.com. &lt;br /&gt;iftikhar@tehelka.com&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
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Affluent farmers are exploiting MGNREGS, the central govt&amp;rsquo;s flagship programme, sending their workers to draw wages whenever they are not required on their farms&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
THE GOVERNMENT seems to be in a fix with its flagship Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) being widely misused even as the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) decides to conduct its own independent audit of the scheme along with National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
New rural development minister Jairam Ramesh has, however, taken it up as challenge, trying to synchronise the employment guarantee programme with the ground realities and prevent the leakages in implementation at the district level.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The nhrc is conducting a review of these programmes that would be reported to the UN Human Rights Commission in 2012 as its officials says &amp;ldquo;it is important to do an audit of what impact the flagship schemes have had on the well-being of the poor as there is growing evidence of diversion of funds meant for these schemes.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The mgnregs guarantees 100 days of work to anybody coming forward in villages for the manual work, but the average number of days of employment under the scheme has been 47. Hence, the nhrc wants to explore if there is misuse of funds or denial of commitment made by the government.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Affluent farmers are exploiting the employment guarantee scheme to send their labour to draw wages from the government whenever not required on the farms. They are also putting pressure on the government to suspend the mgnregs during the peak farming periods to ensure they do not have to pay high labour.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The government cannot issue any order officially to shut down works under the scheme as the law binds it not to deny employment to anybody turning up for work, and the rural development ministry has &amp;ldquo;informally&amp;rdquo; asked the states to suspend these works during the sowing and harvesting season.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The state governments too are exploiting the scheme to pressurise the ministry repeatedly to match the wages under the scheme with the minimum wages statutorily notified in their states. They first revise the minimum wages and then seek revision of the wages under the scheme.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Last week, Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal demanded that the daily wage rate under the scheme be raised to Rs 200 as the present wage rate, that is Rs 133 per day, does not match the minimum wage fixed by his government at Rs 153.81 without meals. Ramesh had a tough time explaining Badal that the scheme is not to provide the minimum wage but a guarantee of wage to people not getting employment or wage otherwise. He is already examining the problem passed on from his predecessors who have raised the wage under the scheme above the minimum wage in many states because of such pressure as it is resulting in the non-availability of the labour for the agricultural works. For instance, Haryana has fixed the minimum agriculture wage at Rs 167 per day while it has compelled the Centre to fix the mgnregs wage at Rs 179 per day.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
There are many states where farm labour is easily available because of wage under the scheme being higher than the minimum wage rate.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
There are, however, other states where the scheme wage is lower than the minimum wage, giving ngos a chance to accuse the government of perpetuating forced labour in clear violation of its own laws on the minimum wages. The Centre had, in fact, tried to freeze the scheme wage at Rs 100 per day across the country through a notification in January 2009 but it had to withdraw it under protest from the states and the ngos that it was unjust as the wages varied from state to state and there can not be a uniform wage all over India.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Iftikhar Gilani is a Special Correspondent with Tehelka.com. &lt;br /&gt;
iftikhar@tehelka.com&lt;/em&gt;
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Affluent farmers are exploiting MGNREGS, the central govt&amp;rsquo;s flagship programme, sending their workers to draw wages whenever they are not required on their farms

THE GOVERNMENT seems to be in a fix with its flagship Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee...&#039;
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Affluent farmers are exploiting MGNREGS, the central govt&rsquo;s flagship programme, sending their workers to draw wages whenever they are not required on their farms

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                <strong>Govt in lurch over rural job scheme by Iftikhar Gilani</strong></h1>
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                <br /><div align="justify">Affluent farmers are exploiting MGNREGS, the central govt&rsquo;s flagship programme, sending their workers to draw wages whenever they are not required on their farms<br /><br />THE GOVERNMENT seems to be in a fix with its flagship Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) being widely misused even as the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) decides to conduct its own independent audit of the scheme along with National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS).<br /><br />New rural development minister Jairam Ramesh has, however, taken it up as challenge, trying to synchronise the employment guarantee programme with the ground realities and prevent the leakages in implementation at the district level.<br /><br />The nhrc is conducting a review of these programmes that would be reported to the UN Human Rights Commission in 2012 as its officials says &ldquo;it is important to do an audit of what impact the flagship schemes have had on the well-being of the poor as there is growing evidence of diversion of funds meant for these schemes.&rdquo;<br /><br />The mgnregs guarantees 100 days of work to anybody coming forward in villages for the manual work, but the average number of days of employment under the scheme has been 47. Hence, the nhrc wants to explore if there is misuse of funds or denial of commitment made by the government.<br /><br />Affluent farmers are exploiting the employment guarantee scheme to send their labour to draw wages from the government whenever not required on the farms. They are also putting pressure on the government to suspend the mgnregs during the peak farming periods to ensure they do not have to pay high labour.<br /><br />The government cannot issue any order officially to shut down works under the scheme as the law binds it not to deny employment to anybody turning up for work, and the rural development ministry has &ldquo;informally&rdquo; asked the states to suspend these works during the sowing and harvesting season.<br /><br />The state governments too are exploiting the scheme to pressurise the ministry repeatedly to match the wages under the scheme with the minimum wages statutorily notified in their states. They first revise the minimum wages and then seek revision of the wages under the scheme.<br /><br />Last week, Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal demanded that the daily wage rate under the scheme be raised to Rs 200 as the present wage rate, that is Rs 133 per day, does not match the minimum wage fixed by his government at Rs 153.81 without meals. Ramesh had a tough time explaining Badal that the scheme is not to provide the minimum wage but a guarantee of wage to people not getting employment or wage otherwise. He is already examining the problem passed on from his predecessors who have raised the wage under the scheme above the minimum wage in many states because of such pressure as it is resulting in the non-availability of the labour for the agricultural works. For instance, Haryana has fixed the minimum agriculture wage at Rs 167 per day while it has compelled the Centre to fix the mgnregs wage at Rs 179 per day.<br /><br />There are many states where farm labour is easily available because of wage under the scheme being higher than the minimum wage rate.<br /><br />There are, however, other states where the scheme wage is lower than the minimum wage, giving ngos a chance to accuse the government of perpetuating forced labour in clear violation of its own laws on the minimum wages. The Centre had, in fact, tried to freeze the scheme wage at Rs 100 per day across the country through a notification in January 2009 but it had to withdraw it under protest from the states and the ngos that it was unjust as the wages varied from state to state and there can not be a uniform wage all over India.<br /><br /><em>Iftikhar Gilani is a Special Correspondent with Tehelka.com. <br />iftikhar@tehelka.com</em></div>               </font>
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<div align="justify">
Affluent farmers are exploiting MGNREGS, the central govt&rsquo;s flagship programme, sending their workers to draw wages whenever they are not required on their farms<br />
<br />
THE GOVERNMENT seems to be in a fix with its flagship Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) being widely misused even as the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) decides to conduct its own independent audit of the scheme along with National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS).<br />
<br />
New rural development minister Jairam Ramesh has, however, taken it up as challenge, trying to synchronise the employment guarantee programme with the ground realities and prevent the leakages in implementation at the district level.<br />
<br />
The nhrc is conducting a review of these programmes that would be reported to the UN Human Rights Commission in 2012 as its officials says &ldquo;it is important to do an audit of what impact the flagship schemes have had on the well-being of the poor as there is growing evidence of diversion of funds meant for these schemes.&rdquo;<br />
<br />
The mgnregs guarantees 100 days of work to anybody coming forward in villages for the manual work, but the average number of days of employment under the scheme has been 47. Hence, the nhrc wants to explore if there is misuse of funds or denial of commitment made by the government.<br />
<br />
Affluent farmers are exploiting the employment guarantee scheme to send their labour to draw wages from the government whenever not required on the farms. They are also putting pressure on the government to suspend the mgnregs during the peak farming periods to ensure they do not have to pay high labour.<br />
<br />
The government cannot issue any order officially to shut down works under the scheme as the law binds it not to deny employment to anybody turning up for work, and the rural development ministry has &ldquo;informally&rdquo; asked the states to suspend these works during the sowing and harvesting season.<br />
<br />
The state governments too are exploiting the scheme to pressurise the ministry repeatedly to match the wages under the scheme with the minimum wages statutorily notified in their states. They first revise the minimum wages and then seek revision of the wages under the scheme.<br />
<br />
Last week, Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal demanded that the daily wage rate under the scheme be raised to Rs 200 as the present wage rate, that is Rs 133 per day, does not match the minimum wage fixed by his government at Rs 153.81 without meals. Ramesh had a tough time explaining Badal that the scheme is not to provide the minimum wage but a guarantee of wage to people not getting employment or wage otherwise. He is already examining the problem passed on from his predecessors who have raised the wage under the scheme above the minimum wage in many states because of such pressure as it is resulting in the non-availability of the labour for the agricultural works. For instance, Haryana has fixed the minimum agriculture wage at Rs 167 per day while it has compelled the Centre to fix the mgnregs wage at Rs 179 per day.<br />
<br />
There are many states where farm labour is easily available because of wage under the scheme being higher than the minimum wage rate.<br />
<br />
There are, however, other states where the scheme wage is lower than the minimum wage, giving ngos a chance to accuse the government of perpetuating forced labour in clear violation of its own laws on the minimum wages. The Centre had, in fact, tried to freeze the scheme wage at Rs 100 per day across the country through a notification in January 2009 but it had to withdraw it under protest from the states and the ngos that it was unjust as the wages varied from state to state and there can not be a uniform wage all over India.<br />
<br />
<em>Iftikhar Gilani is a Special Correspondent with Tehelka.com. <br />
iftikhar@tehelka.com</em>
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Affluent farmers are exploiting MGNREGS, the central govt&rsquo;s flagship programme, sending their workers to draw wages whenever they are not required on their farms

THE GOVERNMENT seems to be in a fix with its flagship Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee...',
	'disp' => '<br /><div align="justify">Affluent farmers are exploiting MGNREGS, the central govt&rsquo;s flagship programme, sending their workers to draw wages whenever they are not required on their farms<br /><br />THE GOVERNMENT seems to be in a fix with its flagship Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) being widely misused even as the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) decides to conduct its own independent audit of the scheme along with National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS).<br /><br />New rural development minister Jairam Ramesh has, however, taken it up as challenge, trying to synchronise the employment guarantee programme with the ground realities and prevent the leakages in implementation at the district level.<br /><br />The nhrc is conducting a review of these programmes that would be reported to the UN Human Rights Commission in 2012 as its officials says &ldquo;it is important to do an audit of what impact the flagship schemes have had on the well-being of the poor as there is growing evidence of diversion of funds meant for these schemes.&rdquo;<br /><br />The mgnregs guarantees 100 days of work to anybody coming forward in villages for the manual work, but the average number of days of employment under the scheme has been 47. Hence, the nhrc wants to explore if there is misuse of funds or denial of commitment made by the government.<br /><br />Affluent farmers are exploiting the employment guarantee scheme to send their labour to draw wages from the government whenever not required on the farms. They are also putting pressure on the government to suspend the mgnregs during the peak farming periods to ensure they do not have to pay high labour.<br /><br />The government cannot issue any order officially to shut down works under the scheme as the law binds it not to deny employment to anybody turning up for work, and the rural development ministry has &ldquo;informally&rdquo; asked the states to suspend these works during the sowing and harvesting season.<br /><br />The state governments too are exploiting the scheme to pressurise the ministry repeatedly to match the wages under the scheme with the minimum wages statutorily notified in their states. They first revise the minimum wages and then seek revision of the wages under the scheme.<br /><br />Last week, Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal demanded that the daily wage rate under the scheme be raised to Rs 200 as the present wage rate, that is Rs 133 per day, does not match the minimum wage fixed by his government at Rs 153.81 without meals. Ramesh had a tough time explaining Badal that the scheme is not to provide the minimum wage but a guarantee of wage to people not getting employment or wage otherwise. He is already examining the problem passed on from his predecessors who have raised the wage under the scheme above the minimum wage in many states because of such pressure as it is resulting in the non-availability of the labour for the agricultural works. For instance, Haryana has fixed the minimum agriculture wage at Rs 167 per day while it has compelled the Centre to fix the mgnregs wage at Rs 179 per day.<br /><br />There are many states where farm labour is easily available because of wage under the scheme being higher than the minimum wage rate.<br /><br />There are, however, other states where the scheme wage is lower than the minimum wage, giving ngos a chance to accuse the government of perpetuating forced labour in clear violation of its own laws on the minimum wages. The Centre had, in fact, tried to freeze the scheme wage at Rs 100 per day across the country through a notification in January 2009 but it had to withdraw it under protest from the states and the ngos that it was unjust as the wages varied from state to state and there can not be a uniform wage all over India.<br /><br /><em>Iftikhar Gilani is a Special Correspondent with Tehelka.com. <br />iftikhar@tehelka.com</em></div>',
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	'title' => 'Govt in lurch over rural job scheme by Iftikhar Gilani',
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Affluent farmers are exploiting MGNREGS, the central govt&rsquo;s flagship programme, sending their workers to draw wages whenever they are not required on their farms<br />
<br />
THE GOVERNMENT seems to be in a fix with its flagship Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) being widely misused even as the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) decides to conduct its own independent audit of the scheme along with National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS).<br />
<br />
New rural development minister Jairam Ramesh has, however, taken it up as challenge, trying to synchronise the employment guarantee programme with the ground realities and prevent the leakages in implementation at the district level.<br />
<br />
The nhrc is conducting a review of these programmes that would be reported to the UN Human Rights Commission in 2012 as its officials says &ldquo;it is important to do an audit of what impact the flagship schemes have had on the well-being of the poor as there is growing evidence of diversion of funds meant for these schemes.&rdquo;<br />
<br />
The mgnregs guarantees 100 days of work to anybody coming forward in villages for the manual work, but the average number of days of employment under the scheme has been 47. Hence, the nhrc wants to explore if there is misuse of funds or denial of commitment made by the government.<br />
<br />
Affluent farmers are exploiting the employment guarantee scheme to send their labour to draw wages from the government whenever not required on the farms. They are also putting pressure on the government to suspend the mgnregs during the peak farming periods to ensure they do not have to pay high labour.<br />
<br />
The government cannot issue any order officially to shut down works under the scheme as the law binds it not to deny employment to anybody turning up for work, and the rural development ministry has &ldquo;informally&rdquo; asked the states to suspend these works during the sowing and harvesting season.<br />
<br />
The state governments too are exploiting the scheme to pressurise the ministry repeatedly to match the wages under the scheme with the minimum wages statutorily notified in their states. They first revise the minimum wages and then seek revision of the wages under the scheme.<br />
<br />
Last week, Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal demanded that the daily wage rate under the scheme be raised to Rs 200 as the present wage rate, that is Rs 133 per day, does not match the minimum wage fixed by his government at Rs 153.81 without meals. Ramesh had a tough time explaining Badal that the scheme is not to provide the minimum wage but a guarantee of wage to people not getting employment or wage otherwise. He is already examining the problem passed on from his predecessors who have raised the wage under the scheme above the minimum wage in many states because of such pressure as it is resulting in the non-availability of the labour for the agricultural works. For instance, Haryana has fixed the minimum agriculture wage at Rs 167 per day while it has compelled the Centre to fix the mgnregs wage at Rs 179 per day.<br />
<br />
There are many states where farm labour is easily available because of wage under the scheme being higher than the minimum wage rate.<br />
<br />
There are, however, other states where the scheme wage is lower than the minimum wage, giving ngos a chance to accuse the government of perpetuating forced labour in clear violation of its own laws on the minimum wages. The Centre had, in fact, tried to freeze the scheme wage at Rs 100 per day across the country through a notification in January 2009 but it had to withdraw it under protest from the states and the ngos that it was unjust as the wages varied from state to state and there can not be a uniform wage all over India.<br />
<br />
<em>Iftikhar Gilani is a Special Correspondent with Tehelka.com. <br />
iftikhar@tehelka.com</em>
</div>',
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Affluent farmers are exploiting MGNREGS, the central govt&rsquo;s flagship programme, sending their workers to draw wages whenever they are not required on their farms

THE GOVERNMENT seems to be in a fix with its flagship Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee...'
$disp = '<br /><div align="justify">Affluent farmers are exploiting MGNREGS, the central govt&rsquo;s flagship programme, sending their workers to draw wages whenever they are not required on their farms<br /><br />THE GOVERNMENT seems to be in a fix with its flagship Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) being widely misused even as the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) decides to conduct its own independent audit of the scheme along with National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS).<br /><br />New rural development minister Jairam Ramesh has, however, taken it up as challenge, trying to synchronise the employment guarantee programme with the ground realities and prevent the leakages in implementation at the district level.<br /><br />The nhrc is conducting a review of these programmes that would be reported to the UN Human Rights Commission in 2012 as its officials says &ldquo;it is important to do an audit of what impact the flagship schemes have had on the well-being of the poor as there is growing evidence of diversion of funds meant for these schemes.&rdquo;<br /><br />The mgnregs guarantees 100 days of work to anybody coming forward in villages for the manual work, but the average number of days of employment under the scheme has been 47. Hence, the nhrc wants to explore if there is misuse of funds or denial of commitment made by the government.<br /><br />Affluent farmers are exploiting the employment guarantee scheme to send their labour to draw wages from the government whenever not required on the farms. They are also putting pressure on the government to suspend the mgnregs during the peak farming periods to ensure they do not have to pay high labour.<br /><br />The government cannot issue any order officially to shut down works under the scheme as the law binds it not to deny employment to anybody turning up for work, and the rural development ministry has &ldquo;informally&rdquo; asked the states to suspend these works during the sowing and harvesting season.<br /><br />The state governments too are exploiting the scheme to pressurise the ministry repeatedly to match the wages under the scheme with the minimum wages statutorily notified in their states. They first revise the minimum wages and then seek revision of the wages under the scheme.<br /><br />Last week, Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal demanded that the daily wage rate under the scheme be raised to Rs 200 as the present wage rate, that is Rs 133 per day, does not match the minimum wage fixed by his government at Rs 153.81 without meals. Ramesh had a tough time explaining Badal that the scheme is not to provide the minimum wage but a guarantee of wage to people not getting employment or wage otherwise. He is already examining the problem passed on from his predecessors who have raised the wage under the scheme above the minimum wage in many states because of such pressure as it is resulting in the non-availability of the labour for the agricultural works. For instance, Haryana has fixed the minimum agriculture wage at Rs 167 per day while it has compelled the Centre to fix the mgnregs wage at Rs 179 per day.<br /><br />There are many states where farm labour is easily available because of wage under the scheme being higher than the minimum wage rate.<br /><br />There are, however, other states where the scheme wage is lower than the minimum wage, giving ngos a chance to accuse the government of perpetuating forced labour in clear violation of its own laws on the minimum wages. The Centre had, in fact, tried to freeze the scheme wage at Rs 100 per day across the country through a notification in January 2009 but it had to withdraw it under protest from the states and the ngos that it was unjust as the wages varied from state to state and there can not be a uniform wage all over India.<br /><br /><em>Iftikhar Gilani is a Special Correspondent with Tehelka.com. <br />iftikhar@tehelka.com</em></div>'
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Govt in lurch over rural job scheme by Iftikhar Gilani

Affluent farmers are exploiting MGNREGS, the central govt’s flagship programme, sending their workers to draw wages whenever they are not required on their farms THE GOVERNMENT seems to be in a fix with its flagship Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) being widely misused even as the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) decides to conduct its own independent audit of the scheme along with National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS). New rural development minister Jairam Ramesh has, however, taken it up as challenge, trying to synchronise the employment guarantee programme with the ground realities and prevent the leakages in implementation at the district level. The nhrc is conducting a review of these programmes that would be reported to the UN Human Rights Commission in 2012 as its officials says “it is important to do an audit of what impact the flagship schemes have had on the well-being of the poor as there is growing evidence of diversion of funds meant for these schemes.” The mgnregs guarantees 100 days of work to anybody coming forward in villages for the manual work, but the average number of days of employment under the scheme has been 47. Hence, the nhrc wants to explore if there is misuse of funds or denial of commitment made by the government. Affluent farmers are exploiting the employment guarantee scheme to send their labour to draw wages from the government whenever not required on the farms. They are also putting pressure on the government to suspend the mgnregs during the peak farming periods to ensure they do not have to pay high labour. The government cannot issue any order officially to shut down works under the scheme as the law binds it not to deny employment to anybody turning up for work, and the rural development ministry has “informally” asked the states to suspend these works during the sowing and harvesting season. The state governments too are exploiting the scheme to pressurise the ministry repeatedly to match the wages under the scheme with the minimum wages statutorily notified in their states. They first revise the minimum wages and then seek revision of the wages under the scheme. Last week, Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal demanded that the daily wage rate under the scheme be raised to Rs 200 as the present wage rate, that is Rs 133 per day, does not match the minimum wage fixed by his government at Rs 153.81 without meals. Ramesh had a tough time explaining Badal that the scheme is not to provide the minimum wage but a guarantee of wage to people not getting employment or wage otherwise. He is already examining the problem passed on from his predecessors who have raised the wage under the scheme above the minimum wage in many states because of such pressure as it is resulting in the non-availability of the labour for the agricultural works. For instance, Haryana has fixed the minimum agriculture wage at Rs 167 per day while it has compelled the Centre to fix the mgnregs wage at Rs 179 per day. There are many states where farm labour is easily available because of wage under the scheme being higher than the minimum wage rate. There are, however, other states where the scheme wage is lower than the minimum wage, giving ngos a chance to accuse the government of perpetuating forced labour in clear violation of its own laws on the minimum wages. The Centre had, in fact, tried to freeze the scheme wage at Rs 100 per day across the country through a notification in January 2009 but it had to withdraw it under protest from the states and the ngos that it was unjust as the wages varied from state to state and there can not be a uniform wage all over India. Iftikhar Gilani is a Special Correspondent with Tehelka.com. iftikhar@tehelka.com