-The Economic Times The government has told the Supreme Court that its flagship Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Act (MNREGA) is a social security safeguard and not an alternative employment avenue. Challenging the Karanataka High Court ruling on wages under the MGNREGA, the Centre has said that its flagship programme is a "supplement" and not a "replacement" for existing employment opportunities. Though meant as a dole, the MNREGA programme has more...

-GK News Network Government has proposed a Rs 2000 crore Labour Budget under MG NREGA for the coming fiscal year. This was revealed at a high level meeting convened under the chairmanship of Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Ali Muhammad Sagar here today. Commissioner Secretary Rural Development, Farooq Ahmad Peer, Director Rural Development Jammu, Shafiq Ahmad Raina, Member Secretary MG NREGA, Dr Hanief Balkhi and other senior officers of the department...

-The Times of India   The states would milk the Centre by arbitrarily hiking their 'minimum wages' if workers in the job guarantee scheme were to be paid by the "minimum wages Act", the Centre cautioned while appealing against a court order quashing power to fix remuneration under MGNREGA. Union rural development ministry has sought revision of the Karnataka high court order giving in to the finance ministry's pressure despite the fear...

The United Progressive Alliance government's decision to challenge the Karnataka High Court's ruling on payment of minimum wages to workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act came under attack from the Central Employment Guarantee Council (CEGC), the body that governs the programme. And Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh has warned Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that the “atmospherics associated with filing of a special leave petition [in...

-The Hindu   Members of various trade unions in the private and public sectors, affiliated to 11 major central trade unions, will stage a countrywide strike on February 28, 2012 against the ‘anti-labour' policies of the UPA-II government. The Railways will be exempted from the protest. G. Sanjeeva Reddy, president of the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), affiliated to the Congress, told journalists here on Tuesday that despite various demonstrations by the...