The United Progressive Alliance government's decision to challenge the Karnataka High Court's ruling on payment of minimum wages to workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act came under attack from the Central Employment Guarantee Council (CEGC), the body that governs the programme. And Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh has warned Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that the “atmospherics associated with filing of a special leave petition [in...

Agriculture minister Sharad Pawar’s suggestion to ban Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA) during farming season may not get government’s approval. Instead, the MGNREGA guidelines may be amended to increasing synergy between the world’s biggest social security scheme and agriculture sector to improve production. A set of green methodologies could be included in works allowed under the scheme. Pawar had written to Prime Minister on November 28 seeking the ban....

-The Times of India   Amid complaints from opposition Congress about corruption in Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS) and other schemes, Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh will tour four districts of Madhya Pradesh to review implementation the centrally sponsored schemes.  Ramesh is expected to tour Sagar, Jabalpur, Mandla and Bhopal districts to review theMNREGS and implementation of other rural development schemes, particularly in the light of complaints of...

Fixing of minimum wages in the States and under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme is set to become a poll issue, at least in Uttar Pradesh. Even as the Ministry of Rural Development is hurrying to revise the wage rate under the MGNREGS next week, its officials are apprehensive that Uttar Pradesh too might revise its minimum farm wages in a couple of days. The officials are keenly watching...

Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh has rejected Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar’s suggestion on modifying MGNREGA’s guidelines, saying it has not impacted the availability of workers for the farm sector. Ramesh has told Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that on the contrary it has led to major increase in farm wages and kind of works being executed with most of the works being taken up during the off-season periods. In reply to Pawar’s...