-Newsclick.in On Saturday, the Ministry of Rural Development denied that the rural jobs scheme was facing a shortage of funds. Its response, however, “leaves many questions unanswered,” according to civil society members. Activists have questioned the Centre’s response to media reports on the shortage of available funds for the rural employment guarantee scheme in the current financial year, by alleging that it is “misleading” and that it leaves many raised questions “unanswered.” Last...

-The Hindu The Centre has decided to scrap the system of caste-based wage payments in the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme after complaints from State Governments. In an order dated November 1, the Finance Ministry directed the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) to “revert to the previous system of generating single muster, single FTO [or Fund Transfer Order] and transferring money into a single NeFMS [or National Electronic...

-The Telegraph The govt would be providing it to all its over 7 lakh students of Classes IX-XII for the first time since its over two-decade existence Jamshedpur: Students in government schools and intermediate colleges of Jharkhand will not have to purchase textbooks. The Jharkhand government would be providing free textbooks to all its over 7 lakh students of Classes IX-XII for the first time since it’s over two decades of existence. It...

-Press release by National Coalition on the Education Emergency dated 2nd November, 2021 * India’s 250 million children returning to school after 18 months of school closures and devastating learning loss * The NCEE warns that re-opening schools cannot be “return to school” as normal, and lack of a comprehensive approach will deepen the existing education inequality * Education recovery efforts require a multi-year, radically new approach, NCEE says NEW DELHI: The overwhelming majority...

-Hindustan Times Additional railway rakes, or train wagons, were being made available to ship fertilisers on a priority basis and at short notice, an official said. The Union government has formed a “crack team” to ensure priority movement of fertilisers to key food-bowl States as fears of shortage have triggered panic buying of crop nutrients, people familiar with the matter said. For the first time, a hub-and-spoke model is being implemented to take...