-The Business Standard State governments yet to act on sorting MGNREGA wage delays If our salaries were delayed by two years, two months or even two weeks, how many of us would like it or put up with it? In Araria district in Bihar, workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) complain of not receiving wages for the work done in December 2011. Says Anil Kumar Paswan of Parihari village...

-Down to Earth State plans to bring down its minimum wage rate to that under MGNREGA TO reduce the burden of the state exchequer by Rs 600 crore, Bihar has decided to reduce its minimum wage rate offered to unskilled labourers, and make it on a par with the rate offered under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). This is despite the Supreme Court’s ruling, in many cases, that...

-Live Mint Attempt to broad-base direct benefits transfer plan may help shore up the Congress’s standing among rural population The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government plans to include its flagship rural job guarantee programme in the second phase of its ambitious direct benefits transfer (DBT) plan, under which beneficiaries of social welfare programmes will receive money directly in their Aadhaar-linked bank accounts. The attempt to broad-base the cash transfer plan before several...

-PTI The Income Tax department has decided to crack the whip on big companies and organisations that do not remit TDS money even after deducting it from their workers' salaries. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the controlling and administrative authority of the department, has asked all I-T ranges to identify such cases where revenue implication is large and initiate prosecution in competent courts. The action will be taken under Section 276B...

-The Telegraph Labour payments under NREGA will continue to be less than minimum wages for agricultural labourers in four states, including Bengal, despite a recent rate revision in the rural job scheme. Rural development minister Jairam Ramesh today tabled a statement in the Rajya Sabha on the revised wages that will take effect from next month. Under the new NREGA rates, labourers in all states stand to gain, except those in Kerala, Bengal,...