The Guwahati high court, Imphal bench has issued a notice of motion returnable within four weeks in response to the writ petition filed by 14 Job card holders of Naoriya Pakhanglakpa Gram Panchayat for non payment of unemployment allowance despite the fact that the Ombudsman, MGNREGS, Imphal West district had issued an award in this regard. A statement issued by the Human Right Law Network (HRLN) in this connection said that...
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UNHCR demands inquiry into Niyamat Ansari death
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has taken cognizance of the killing of MGNREGA activist Niyamat Ansari in Latehar district and requested authorities in India to probe his death as also the death threats issued to rights activist Bhukhan Singh. The UNHCR urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Union home minister P Chidambaram, Chief Justice S H Kapadia and chairman of the special investigation team, Supreme Court of India, R...
More »New MGNREGA social audit norms to make them independent by Anindo Dey
The social audit of schemes under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Gurantee Act (MGNREGA) now permits the involvement of outsiders in the process as facilitators. A new set of rules framed by the ministry of rural development for such audits has been approved. Christened Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Gurantee Audits of Schemes Rules 2011, the rules ensure the audit process is independent of agencies implementing the scheme and the...
More »Four weeks for Centre to clarify stand on CBI probe into ‘misuse' of MGNREGA funds: court by J Venkatesan
The Supreme Court on Monday granted four weeks to the Centre to take a clear stand regarding a CBI probe into alleged misuse of funds allocated to the States. The court was dealing with a petition alleging misappropriation of funds under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in Orissa. In an interim order on the writ petition filed by the Centre for Environment and Food Security, a three-Judge Bench,...
More »Why was Niyamat Ansari Killed? : The Politics of NREGA and the Maoists by Avanish Kumar
The gruesome murder of NREGA activist Niyamat Ansari has shocked the progressive civil society and political groups in the country. According to reports (one, two), Niyamat Ansari had exposed a case of corruption in NREGA and an FIR was lodged against a former BDO and another Panchayat Sevak of Manika block, Latehar (Jharkhand). On 2nd March 2011, Niyamat Ansari was picked from his house and beaten to death. The reports...
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