-The Times of India   After taking lead in helping the country draw up the Rigth to Information Act and the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), Rajasthan has become the first state in the country to have drafted a policy underlining the importance and the need to preserve and secure common land (commons) in rural areas. The government has issued a series of orders to facilitate the process and aims...

The Jharkhand state MGNREGA council has increased the honorarium to nearly 6,000 contract employees working for implementation of the central scheme, putting an additional burden of over Rs 1 crore on the state exchequer. However, the government said the extra load would be borne by the central share of funds. The proposal of the rural development department was approved by the state council in its third meeting here on Tuesday. The...

The challenges that came into the fore after the recent anti-corruption movement seems to have expedited activities within the UPA government on the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has decided to review the performance of MGNREGA in states on September 29. The  decision was taken in the wake of wide ranging recommendations by Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC). It seeks to revamp...

Maoists have apologized for killing MGNREGA activist Niyamat Ansari. In a release issued by Koyal Shankh zonal committee of the CPI-Maoist, its spokesperson Dinbandhu said the rebels owned up the responsibility for the killing in April, describing it as unfortunate. "He was killed not because of his role as an MGNREGA activist, instead he along with his associate Bhukhan Singh was found guilty of capturing forest land in Jerua village for agricultural...

“MGNREGS should move from relief work mode to one that blends natural resources and labour” to build productive assets The Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC), which went into hibernation in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson's absence, has been reactivated. On September 14, it despatched its recommendations on strengthening the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) to the government; it wants the scheme to move from its “relief work...