-Down to Earth Four-day world congress on agroforestry in Delhi pushes for accelerating growing trees on farms for sustainable agriculture and mitigating climate change impacts In what is seen as a ground-breaking move, India has become the first nation in the world to adopt an agroforestry policy. The National Agroforestry Policy, which deals with the practice of integrating trees, crops and livestock on the same plot of land, was launched February 10,...

-The Hindu Programme Officer in every State should help workers get UIDAI numbers, says Ministry The Ministry of Rural Development on Tuesday directed the States not to deny workers job cards under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act for non-possession of either bank/post office account numbers or the Aadhaar card. The instructions, a copy of which is available with The Hindu, say it is the responsibility of the MgNREGA Programme Officer...

-Live Mint Rural livelihoods have improved because of MgNREGA. It is wrong to say the scheme has not worked If some recent news articles are to be believed, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MgNREGA), a scheme that costs less than 0.35% of India's gross domestic product (GDP), has crashed the country's economy. The latest to join this bandwagon of criticism is an editorial in Mint. ("MgNREGA: A tale...

-The Hindu Three months after the Ministry of Rural Development launched ‘Kaam Maango Abhiyan', aimed at capturing demand effectively for its flagship scheme Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MgNREGA), the impact is beginning to become clear in several select districts of the country. The focus has been in six districts - Sitapur (Uttar Pradesh), Nashik (Maharashtra), Raichur (Karnataka), Katihar (Bihar), West Singhbum (Jharkhand) and Sundergarh (Odisha). The campaign covered...

-Live Mint The scheme represents Rs.2.3 trillion spent on wasteful rural consumption This week marked the eighth anniversary of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MgNREGA), the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government's key rural intervention, launched in 200 districts initially in February 2006. To the extent that such populist schemes helped raise wages without raising productivity. They have contributed more to inflation than to rural wealth. Worse, such schemes have...