-Down to Earth Rural development ministry to make social audit compulsory; create more durable assets in blocks and districts, instead of villages UPA's flagship programme, Mahatma Gandhi National Employment Guarantee Act (MgNREGA), is set to see some changes under the ruling NDA government. The Union Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) has decided to focus on social audit and create durable assets at block and district levels under the programme. In a letter, dated June...

-The Hindu   Unlike the success story of the tea stall owner who became Prime Minister, there are many others whose dreams have been forgotten. But their lives have been rebuilt by MgNREGA Right next to the village home in Devdungri, Rajsamand, Rajasthan where I lived and worked with Mazdoor Kisan Shakthi Sangathan from 1998, live Chiman Singh and his wife Meera. Both of them used to migrate to Ahmedabad for six months...

-The Pioneer Citing security reasons, State Governments have rejected the Centre's proposal to dole out cash to the MgNREGA beneficiaries in the villages having poor network of internet or banks and post offices in the country. Sources in the Union Rural Development Ministry, which is executing the MgNREGA scheme, said that the Central Government had recently asked the States to identify 800-1,000 blocks where rural job workers have not been able...

-The Indian Express The scheme should be refocused towards creating durable assets in agriculture. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) has a significant influence on agricultural operations and cultivation costs. If its present focus on community works can be reoriented to proactively promote improvements on the landholdings of small and marginal farmers through the creation of durable assets, it will be beneficial for agricultural productivity and incomes. Critics say that...

-The Indian Express In her letter to Gadkari, Raje said that some issues in the Act need a rethink. Reopening the debate over the UPA's flagship Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MgNREGA), Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje has asked the Centre why it cannot be delivered as a scheme. "It is a moot issue why rural employment should be guaranteed by an Act, and why such employment cannot be delivered, or...