The case of the Food Security Bill gets curiouser and curiouser. What started off as a fight between universalization and targeting has ended (or so it would seem) in a complete victory in the National Advisory Council, Government of India (nac) for targeting through universalization (if such a thing was possible), with the honourable exception of Prof Jean Dreze, who has to be commended for his ‘note of disagreement’. On...
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NREGA vs Minimum Wages Act by Sreelatha Menon
Can the government break its own laws? That seems to be the case when it comes to minimum wages in the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), which makes the government the employer of the world’s largest workforce of close to 35 million job-card holders. In 19 states, the workers are getting less than the minimum wages in their areas, with the rural development ministry and the labour ministry looking the...
More »Sonia's nac favours statutory minimum wages under MNREGS by Vidya Subrahmaniam
Contradicts Centre's line on issue of minimum wages payment Going against the view of the United Progressive Alliance government, the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (nac) has favoured the payment of statutory minimum wages to workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS). The nac's line is in conflict with the January 1, 2009 notification issued by the Union Ministry of Rural Development, delinking the MNREGS wages from The...
More »Food security: nac snubs Pawar
The National Advisory Council, headed by Congress Party president Sonia Gandhi, may have grudgingly settled for a much less ambitious National Food Security Act than previously envisaged. But a proactive Sonia now plans to push for a full-fledged ministry of food security, carving it out of the agriculture ministry headed by NCP chief Sharad Pawar. Sources said she had been advised by stakeholders in the party and outside that the ministry of...
More »Food security to cost Rs 72,000 crore by Devika Banerji & Ajay Modi
The National Advisory Council (nac) recommendation to guarantee foodgrain to two-thirds of the country’s population could bloat the government’s food subsidy spend by 26 per cent to over Rs 72,000 crore — equivalent to over 1 per cent of the gross domestic product. The foodgrain guarantee is part of the proposed National Food Security Bill. This is a conservative figure, compared with the Rs 78,000 crore estimated by Deutsche Bank in...
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