The Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council has asked the government to ensure that over one crore workers enrolled under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) should get wages as per minimum wages applicable in different states. As of now, those enrolled in the world’s biggest job guarantee scheme in 19 states get wages less than what has been prescribed under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948. In some states,...
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Food security: PM says will seriously evaluate NAC recommendations
The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, on Saturday, said that on his return to New Delhi, he would study the recommendations made by the National Advisory Council (NAC) on the issue of food security. Interacting with media persons accompanying him a three-nation visit to Japan, Malaysia and Vietnam, on a wide range of subjects onboard his special aircraft, Dr. Singh said: "When I will go back, I will try to acquaint...
More »NREGA vs Minimum Wages Act by Sreelatha Menon
Can the government break its own laws? That seems to be the case when it comes to minimum wages in the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), which makes the government the employer of the world’s largest workforce of close to 35 million job-card holders. In 19 states, the workers are getting less than the minimum wages in their areas, with the rural development ministry and the labour ministry looking the...
More »Food Security Sans PDS: Universalization Through Targeting? by Smita Gupta
The case of the Food Security Bill gets curiouser and curiouser. What started off as a fight between universalization and targeting has ended (or so it would seem) in a complete victory in the National Advisory Council, Government of India (NAC) for targeting through universalization (if such a thing was possible), with the honourable exception of Prof Jean Dreze, who has to be commended for his ‘note of disagreement’. On...
More »MNREGA workers threaten to observe “Black Diwali”
The hopes of an early compliance to their demand of payment of minimum wages receding, the MNREGA workers, who are on an indefinite dharna here, on Saturday threatened to observe a “Black Diwali” this season. The dharna, convened by the Suchana Evum Rogar Ka Adhikar Abhiyan, on its 29th day was attended by over 2,000 persons from 22 districts of Rajasthan. The workers took out a rally in the evening demanding...
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