-The Financial Express The proposed MGNREGA changes can help plug the leakages and enhance agriculture productivity There is good news about the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee (MGNREGA) scheme. Recent press reports reveal that the rural development minister, Nitin Gadkari, has instructed lowering of the mandatory share for unskilled wages in total expenditure from the current 60% to 51%. He has also directed, quite rightly, that 50% of the expenditure be...

-Down to Earth Ministry of rural development will channelise MPs' funds through different schemes for Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana Prime Minister Narendra Modi has decided to restructure the existing Member of Parliament Local Area Development (MPLAD) scheme in a holistic way. He launched the Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) on Saturday, under which2,379 model villages will be developed across the country in the next five years. There are 793 Members of Parliament...

-The Financial Express The USDA projection of 29% of agri GDP is faulty as it counts rural development expenditure also, it is only 13% In a report titled "India's Agricultural Exports Climbs To Record High" (click here to access), the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) speaks of a steep ascent in Indian agro exports-from $5 billion in 2003 to $39 billion in 2013. This may be flattering, but the facts and figures...

In the midst of irregular monsoons affecting agriculture, a new report shows stagnation in the state of irrigation infrastructure. The recent report entitled Infrastructure Statistics 2014 (Third Issue) by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has provided information that despite the rise in expenditure on irrigation infrastructure, there has been no substantial improvement in the gross irrigation potential utilized*. Athough expenditure on irrigation has increased from Rs. 36561.64 crores...

-The Business Standard Forest Rights Act being reinterpreted to avoid amendment Led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's office, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government is discussing possible ways to do away with the mandatory requirement of securing consent from tribal gram sabhas (village councils) before cutting down their forests for industrial purposes. The deliberations, on among various ministries, are for zeroing in on such a way that the requirement is removed without...