The UPA government has widened the scope of its flagship Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) to include works related to agriculture, animal husbandry, poultry, drinking water and sanitation.  In its initial avatar launched over six years ago, the NREGA was limited only to works concerning water and soil conservation, afforestation and land development. It was largely seen as a subsistence dole for the rural people in the lean...

-The Times of India   In what is a first in Andhra Pradesh, 101 workers in Medak district have been awarded unemployment allowance to the tune of Rs 2 lakh for having been denied work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). The award is being seen as an assertion of wage earners' rights under the Act as this is the first time that they have earned compensation for not...

-The Business Standard   A Nandan Nilekani-led task force on an Aadhaar-enabled unified payment infrastructure has recommended setting up a network of one million interoperable micro-ATMs across the country. The ATMs will be operated by business correspondents. The task force, headed by the Chairman of Unique Identification Authority of India, submitted its report to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday. The panel has suggested that in order to set-up this network quickly, a last-mile transaction...

-The Economic Times   An expert group has recommended adding 30 agricultural and allied works under the Centre's flagship rural job guarantee scheme, in a revamp aimed at making the country's costliest social sector programme more effective.  As part of the overhaul of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), the panel has also suggested an electronic fund management system to ensure timely transfer of money to needy districts.  The recommendations of...

-The Telegraph The state rural development department has asked for a report from the Latehar district administration on Wednesday’s death of a 14-year-old girl while she was working in a well being constructed under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). In a letter issued today after The Telegraph carried a report highlighting the tragedy and its overall implications on the tardy implementation of the Centre’s job scheme in Jharkhand, rural...