A difference of opinion between two ministries has put paid to a six-month-old proposal to extend a government health insurance scheme for the poor to those working under the government’s flagship job guarantee programme. The Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) offers cashless hospitalization benefit up to Rs30,000 for a poor family of five. Nearly 11 million families have been issued smart cards since the scheme was introduced through the labour ministry...

Villagers were paid wages two months late which is a violation of rules  The government’s flagship scheme for the rural poor was meant to provide succour to the unemployed but here, at least, it seems to be the cause of distress. A recent social audit into the workings of the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGREGS) in Bihar by the Jan Jagran Abhiyan (JJA) in Araria district revealed serious problems...

To assist the poor in entitlements under Act  Lok Karmi should not have affiliation with political bodies 12th Standard pass will be preferable The Centre has set in motion the process to appoint Lok Karmis and Lok Sevaks for the proper implementation of Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment guarantee Act (MGREGA). In view of disparities in rural social structures and inequalities in functional capabilities of the poor and marginalised sections lacking literacy skill...

I solicit your personal intervention in the matter to ensure that para-wise comments on the reports of Sanjay Dixit (member of Central Employment Guarantee Council who's come out with a scathing report on the implementation of NREGA in Uttar Pradesh) and pending complaints are attended on priority basis. - Rita Sharma, union secretary (now retired), rural development, in a letter to Atul Kumar Gupta, chief secretary, Uttar Pradesh, on January 13....

A Planning Commission evaluation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) has questioned the effectiveness of projects implemented under the Act in boosting productivity and creating assets. NREGA, the Union government’s flagship anti-poverty programme that promises 100 days of employment every year to the rural poor, is partly credited with driving the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) to victory in the April-May general election. In a presentation made at Prime Minister...