Madhubhai Koli of Khambha village in Amreli district worked for 10 days under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in 2009. He was paid Rs 1,000 that were deposited in his account. What is shocking is that Koli died way back in 2006. The much-publicized employment programme of the UPA government reeks of severe corruption in this village of Saurashtra. And, a Right to Information (RTI) application by...

-The Economic Times   An expert group has recommended adding 30 agricultural and allied works under the Centre's flagship rural job guarantee scheme, in a revamp aimed at making the country's costliest social sector programme more effective.  As part of the overhaul of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), the panel has also suggested an electronic fund management system to ensure timely transfer of money to needy districts.  The recommendations of...

The alleged incident of two quarry workers in Tamil Nadu's Villupuram district being forced to swallow faeces draws attention to larger issues. NORMALLY the villages and hamlets in and around Thiruvakkarai in Tamil Nadu's Villupuram district are woken up by the loud noise and vibrations caused by the blasting of rocks and the pounding of boulders with sledge hammers, apart from the rattling sound of tipper lorries transporting stones from 40-odd...

-The Economic Times   High agricultural wages due to the success of government's flagship employment guarantee programme has hindered the development of micro enterprises in the hinterlands, says a research paper by Indian School of Business (ISB). The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) has facilitated poverty alleviation in rural areas, it has discouraged village-level entrepreneurial ventures, the study has concluded. MGNREGA entitles 100 days of employment in a year to...

-The Business Standard Implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), a flagship programme of the Central government to alleviate poverty, has resulted in an increase of up to 20 per cent in the cost of farm production in Karnataka. It has also created a shortage of labour in the agriculture sector in the state. According to a study conducted by the Bangalore-based Institute for Social and Economic Change...