A total of Rs 3,79,29,000 have been paid to the unskilled workers under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme MGNREGA so far in the state, said Union Minister for Rural Development Dr C P.Joshi informed Shantaram Naik MP in a written reply to the question asked by him in the Rajya Sabha on the subject. Minister said that at the time of commencement of the scheme wage rate in Goa...

The microfinance bubble has burst. The AP government ordinance, the AP oppositionfs campaign asking borrowers not to repay and the sheer public hostility towards MFIs . all these have put the brakes on MFI activities for now. We need to rethink the role of MFIs in the rural economy . In order to do so, we must first grasp some of the myths on which the MFI sector has rested...

The poster boy of microfinance is now seeking some anonymity. In Andhra Pradesh, the epicentre of the worst crisis faced by microfinance in India, SKS Microfinance is playing down its identity and going into preservation mode. At its modest office in a residential colony in Warangal district, India’s largest microfinance company has taken down its board. At its head office in upmarket Begumpet in Hyderabad, it hung a cloth mesh...

The Cabinet on Wednesday decided to restore the tribal land allegedly encroached by a windmill company at Attappady in Palakkad district. Those who fabricated documents for facilitating the encroachment would be prosecuted. The Cabinet also decided to institute a comprehensive Vigilance inquiry into the alleged involvement of officials of various departments in the alienation of the tribal land. Briefing the media on the Cabinet decisions, Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan said the inquiry...

Chief Minister V. S. Achuthanandan will convene a conference of officials on November 18 to review relief measures undertaken by the government for victims of Endosulfan in Kasaragod district. The conference will review the effectiveness of assistance provided by government to the victims. Besides welfare pensions for the disabled, the government is providing monthly assistance for bystanders of bed-ridden victims, rice at Rs.2 a kg and medical assistance. The meet may also look...