-The Hindu Select farmers to be trained on improved farming technology Madurai (Tamil Nadu): The Department of Agriculture has chosen to promote cultivation of minor millets to beat economic backwardness among the farming community in rain-fed Kalligudi block. The officials have identified 322 farmers and 78 farm hands as Beneficiaries under the State Balanced Growth Fund in seven villages of the block. The State Government has allotted Rs. 23 lakh under the fund. "Select...

-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 Hindu Quantum of rice distributed meets our food requirements, say Beneficiaries Mysore (Karnataka): Below the poverty line cardholders Honnamma, Nagarathna and Parvathamma are univocal in their support for Anna Bhagya, the flagship programme of the State government. The scheme has guaranteed food for their families at a subsidised cost, they say. The quality of rice distributed (at Re. 1 a kg) under the scheme is better than that distributed earlier at Rs....

-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...