-The Indian Express According to the 73rd and 74th Amendment Act of the Constitution, passed in 1993, one-third of the seats in all rural and urban local bodies are reserved for women. Amid reports that the NDA government may revive the Women’s Reservation Bill, for reserving one-third of seats in the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies for women, the Centre has canned a move to bring a central legislation to provide 50...

-The Hindu Business Line Concerns flagged over delay in wages, absence of grievance redressal New Delhi: Citing cases of Aadhaar linkage with wrong accounts, delayed and inadequate wages, especially to thousands of women, preparation of muster rolls in English and centralisation of the programme, workers and organisations from across the country are on dharna in Delhi to reaffirm their “legal entitlements’ under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). “Even based...

-Down to Earth MGNREGA budget has declined in real terms over the years, despite claims of “highest ever” allocations In 2004, before India had any legal welfare entitlements for the informal sector, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Bill, was furiously debated in the Parliament and the media. The aim of this legislation was to address the crisis of under employment and unemployment in the rural economy and provide job opportunities through public works...

-The Hindu A new regulatory regime for groundwater, that provides for equitable use, is urgently needed The water crisis India faces is of such a magnitude that urgent measures are necessary to address it. Yet, while the crisis is often discussed, law and policy measures to address it remain insufficient. This is partly due to the fact that the primary source of domestic water and irrigation is groundwater but the media and...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: Four in every five workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act do not get wages on time because of "flawed guidelines", a study released today found. Although the 100-day job scheme provides for payment of compensation of 0.05 per cent of the unpaid wages per day for the period of delay, nearly 33 per cent of the workers do not get any compensation while 47...