-Press Release by the Right to Food Campaign dated 21st June 2018 Jharkhand’s misguided “DBT for food subsidy” pilot in Nagri Block (Ranchi District) is yet to be discontinued, despite virtually unanimous opposition to it from Gram Sabhas. The sequence of events is as follows: 1. The Nagri pilot was initiated in early October 2017. Public protests erupted almost immediately and have continued ever since. 2. Under the DBT system, people have to...

-The Hindu How Zero Budget Natural Farming could be the model for the future In early June, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu announced that the State would fully embrace Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF), a chemical-free method that would cover all farmers by 2024. Earlier in the year, he had revealed these plans at the meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos. Even though this revolution has been in the...

-GoIMonitor.com The villagers getting management rights under the Forest Rights Act can inspire others “First came the forest, followed by the people, and then the government. Does this chronology allow the newest entrant in the scheme to determine the relationship between the two older entities? In other words, does the new regime of community forest resource bequeath rights or is it merely a recognition of unalienable rights already vested in the communities living...

-The Telegraph Patna: A project has been launched in Bihar to make structures - primarily water bodies - under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme climate resilient. UK's Department for International Development (DFID) is providing technical assistance to the state in this project which aims to mitigate the adverse impact of climate change. Christened "Infrastructure for Climate Resilient Growth (ICRG)", the project is being implemented in 35 blocks spread over West...

-The Telegraph Patna: Districts in Bihar would soon have dedicated officials who would be responsible for overseeing the implementation of the schemes run under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). The officials would be known as district programme officer (DPO). "The appointments are going to be made for smooth running of schemes under MGNREGA and all the works related to these schemes would be supervised and coordinated by these officials," a...