-Business Standard/ India Spend Delays in wage payment have been a constant throughout MGNREGS implementation Bachcha Lal’s shirt hung loosely over his frail body, exposing his sunken collarbones, as he stood outside his straw-thatched home in central Uttar Pradesh’s (UP) Bundelkhand region. “They all rely on me,” he said, pointing towards his tubercular son, daughter-in-law and grand-daughter. Illiterate and a landless labourer, 65-year-old Lal makes about Rs 175 a day when he...

-Press Statement by NREGA Watch Today, International Workers Day or “Mazdoor Diwas” was celebrated across Jharkhand by collectives of individuals and organisations, culminating a week long series of intensive activities. Thousands of workers gathered in over twenty five blocks across Jharkhand including Kisko (Lohardaga), Chattarpur (Palamu), Manika and Mahuadandh (Latehar), Raidih and Basia (Gumla), Topchanchi (Dhanbad) and Janiamore (Bokaro). Aside from workers, pensioners and other rural residents, these events were...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: Rahul Gandhi and Mayawati castigated the Madhya Pradesh government on Monday over the branding of police recruits by caste, and Nationalist Congress Party MP Supriya Sule asked the Prime Minister's Office to probe the "shameful" incident. Media reports have said that newly recruited police constables had "SC" (Scheduled Caste), "ST" (Scheduled Tribe) or "OBC" (Other Backward Classes) marked on their bare chests with felt pens during their medical...

-Hindustan Times Suitable modifications can be made to account for differences in sizes of constituencies while deciding on the required proportion of tallying V-VPAT with EVMs. Shift from paper ballots to electronic voting machines (EVMs) has reduced the expenses and logistical problems involved in conducting Elections in India. This achievement can be jeopardised if allegations of EVM tampering are not addressed in a satisfactory manner. Parties such as the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)...

-Livemint.com India’s weather office has forecast a normal monsoon. Bountiful rains in the June-to-September period are critical for about 800 million Indians who depend directly or indirectly on farming New Delhi: Gangabhishan Thaware, a 53-year-old farmer from the drought-prone Marathwada region of Maharashtra, took an unusual step in July last year. Thaware and his fellow villagers had toiled on their fields and spent thousands of rupees on seeds and fertilizers, hopeful...