Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh is learnt to have reluctantly agreed to file an appeal against a Karnataka High Court verdict in September that NREGS wages cannot be fixed lower than what is prescribed under the Minimum Wages Act. For over a month, Ramesh was opposed to the idea of appealing against the ruling. Government sources told The Indian Express that the Rural Development Minister “agreed with protest” to appeal against...

-The Times of India   Non-payment of wages in time under MGNREGA, rampant corruption at different levels, effectiveness of e-Shakti project, assistance for development from Finance Commission, non-issuance of identity cards to the PRI's elected representatives, formation of sub-committees in panchayats and use of Right to Information were some of the issues that cropped up during the five-day training programme for the office bearers of the three-tier panchayati raj institutions (PRIs) held...

-The Telegraph   New laws are often brought in without assessing their judicial and financial impact. The result is poor implementation, says Seetha Call it collateral damage. According to newspaper reports, agriculture minister Sharad Pawar has written to the Prime Minister asking for the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) to be put on hold during the peak season of agricultural operations. With a guaranteed income of Rs 100 a day for at...

-The Times of India   Inequality in earnings has doubled in India over the last two decades, making it the worst performer on this count of all emerging economies. The top 10% of wage earners now make 12 times more than the bottom 10%, up from a ratio of six in the 1990s. Moreover, wages are not smoothly spread out even through the middle of the distribution. The top 10% of earners make...

While Asian economies boomed before the global recession in 2008, the fruits of that progress did not translate into better wages or secure employment conditions for workers in the region. The International Labour Organisation (ILO)'s Asian Decent Work Decade launched in 2006 was aimed at five priority areas of competitiveness, productivity and jobs; labour market governance; youth employment, managing labour migration and local development for poverty reduction. Today workers' unions are...