-IndiaInfoline.com The information was given by the Minister of State for Rural Development Pradeep Jain in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha yesterday. Government has said that there is no definite findings indicating shortage of farm labourers due to Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). Since MGNREGA is a demand driven scheme, backed by legislation, State Governments are obliged to provide up to 100 days of...

Indian traders reject FDI in multi-brand retail and emphasise the need for a policy to regulate the labour-intensive sector. TRADERS across the country responded angrily to the Union Cabinet's decision to allow 51 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail trade, disproving the arguments of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government and the assessment of corporate India, which had tried hard to make it appear that traders and...

Employment Guarantee Scheme experts in the state have slammed Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar’s proposal of giving a break of three months to the scheme during the farming season every year. Activists claimed that the Pawar’s own state has been implementing this suggestions for years now. The proposal also has been termed as ‘pro-capitalist and pro- industrialist’ by critics. Pawar, in his letter to the prime minister, had suggested that since the...

What lies behind Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar’s note to the prime minister asking for a suspension of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA, for short) for three months a year? The obvious reason is that the big farmers’ lobby he represents is unhappy that NREGA has raised wages in rural areas and labour cannot be enticed to work for less. Under NREGA, labourers get paid at least Rs...

-The Deccan Chronicle   In a bid to help villagers find work, especially in drought-hit mandals, the authorities are taking up several works under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) in Godavari districts. In a bid to help villagers find work, especially in drought-hit mandals, the authorities are taking up several works under the National Rural Employ-ment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) in Godavari districts. The government has declared 14 mandals in East Godavari and...