-PTI State govts fear that the new rates would not be able to attract labourers because they are still below the existing minimum wages fixed by the states. The revised MGNREGA wages for the current fiscal announced recently have left various state governments in a quandary as they apprehend the new rates would not be able to attract labourers because they are still below the existing minimum wages fixed by the...

-The Hindu India has a lasting infrastructure of public support that can, in principle, be expanded in drought years to provide relief. But business as usual seems to be the motto Droughts in India used to be times of frantic relief activity. Large-scale public works were organised, often employing more than 1,00,000 workers in a single district. Food distribution was arranged for destitute persons who were unable to work. Arrangements were also...

-The Indian Express Of the Rs 21,000 crore expected to be released till June, this month the ministry has provided Rs 12,000 crore to the states towards payment of last year’s arrears for labour cost as well as for the month of April. Anticipating a huge spike in the demand for work due to severe drought conditions in most parts of the country, the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) has decided...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: Projected work under the rural job guarantee scheme for 2016-17 is down 10 per cent after a rare boost in the last financial year, suggesting a tightening of the purse strings following a year of heavy expenditure on the programme. The rural development ministry has approved the generation of 217 crore person-days of work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, following last year's approval for...

-FirstPost.com New Delhi: India is in the grip of a drought for the second year running. On an average, 9 farmers committed suicide daily in Maharashtra alone last year. A fight against drought of course needs adequate supply of drinking water and foodgrain but it also requires the government to augment existing Central initiatives and launch new schemes for affected states. Is the government doing enough to help drought affected regions? Last week,...