-The Telegraph   The wages for workers of the Terai and Dooars tea gardens were revised at a tripartite meeting in Calcutta today, the hike of Rs 18 making it almost equal to the amount that the workforce in the Darjeeling gardens has been getting since April this year. According to the three-year agreement, the daily wage of the workers will be Rs 85 for the current year, Rs 90 for 2012-2013 and...

Union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh’s suggestion to bring the national rural employment guarantee scheme (NREGS) under the state rural development department has widened the rift between the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Jairam wrote to chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, suggesting that the EGS be brought under the state rural development department (RDD) for effective implementation in September this year, but in a reply, dated October 7, Chavan bluntly...

In his letter to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati, demanding a CBI inquiry into the alleged bungling of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) funds in the state, Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh has specifically named seven districts where large sums have been spent on purchasing toys, calendars, tents and other such items of questionable relevance. National and state quality monitors have in their reports mentioned several instances...

Pawar announces mega plans for mechanisation in 12th Plan Faced with farm labour shortage following the introduction of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Wednesday announced mega plans for mechanisation in the 12th Five-Year Plan. “With the successful implementation of the MGNREGS and other anti-poverty programmes, there is now pressure on the availability of farm labour,” Mr. Pawar told senior journalists at the Economic...

For the first time in the country, the Andhra Pradesh government is launching special courts for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) on November 1 to try cases of misappropriation and fraud being committed by staff during its implementation. The special courts can impose a two-year jail term apart from ordering recovery of the amount defrauded by the accused officials if proved guilty. The courts, to be set...