-The Tribune The UPA's flagship programme MGNREGS changed the employment scene for the rural poor. While 100-day job guarantee was a novel step, loopholes and poor implementation rendered it a liability. The Modi govt hopes to gradually reinvent the scheme, if not entirely scrap it. Midway through the Congress-led UPA's second tenure - believed to be largely the courtesy of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) -...
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Ration card’s out, Aadhaar in to open bank accounts -Mayur Shetty
-The Times of India MUMBAI: The ration card - the government issued booklet for availing of subsidized food under the public distribution service - is set to lose its privileged status as a valid document for opening bank accounts. Aadhaar is now set to become the single universal document for opening a bank account in India. In a circular dated July 17 addressed to banks, the RBI said that it has revised...
More »Making a hash of it -Ajay Vir Jakhar
-The Indian Express Modi government's potato policy will prove counter-productive. Onions and potatoes take centre-stage again. Having secured a mandate based on people's unhappiness with continuously high and painful food inflation, the government's inability to control prices is, understandably, sending shivers down the BJP's spine. Fulfilling the aspirations of urban voters and winning over a thoroughly exacting Delhi electorate, where re-elections are due, are essential to the BJP's game plan to succeed....
More »Treat pre-1971 Bangladeshi settlers as Indians: Meghalaya HC
-The Times of India SHILLONG: In a landmark judgement, the Meghalaya high court has said Bangladeshi nationals who had settled in the state before March 24, 1971, should be treated as Indians and enrolled in the voters' list. The order came on a petition filed by more than 40 Bangladeshi refugees who were denied enrolment in the electoral roll on the grounds that their citizenship was "doubtful". The refugees from Amjong...
More »Why blame the farmer for price rise? -Shanu Athiparambath
-DNA Farming is considered a patriotic enterprise, and nearly half of India's labour force is engaged in agriculture and allied activities. Almost everyone believes that in the election season, political parties should pledge to aid this patriotic endeavor to feed the nation. But, farming is a risky profession, and agricultural products form only 14% of India's total produce. After the economic reforms, the growth in agricultural GDP has averaged only 3.4%. Even...
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