-Firstpost.com After the UPA-II released its self-congratulatory 79-page ‘Report card to the People', National Advisory Council (NAC) member and leading social activist Aruna Roy has come down heavily on the government for its poor performance in the social sector. Roy, an instrumental force behind the Right to Information Act, criticised the government for stalling on essential legislations such as the Food Security Bill, the Land Acquisition Bill and the Lokpal Bill. Roy spoke...

-PTI NEW DELHI: Social activist Aruna Roy has decided not to continue in UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi-led NAC after her term expires on Friday, criticising the government for not taking up recommendations of the council on minimum wages to workers under MGNREGA. Roy has written to Gandhi requesting that she should not be considered for another term of NAC that sets the social agenda for the government and the UPA Chairperson has...

-PTI Bhopal: Serious irregularities like non-submission of utilisation certificates and delay in payment of wages to beneficiaries among others have come to notice in an official report on the implementation of MGNREGA scheme in Madhya Pradesh. It was also found that the state government was not following necessary budgetary procedures while seeking grant from the Centre under the flagship programme. It was noticed during the inspection in eight districts that the ratio of...

-The Business Standard 42% households that sought employment under MGNREGA and on whose land work was undertaken, did not come back to work on MGNREGA According to a study by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and non-governmental organisation (NGO) Sambodhini, 11 per cent of those who used labour under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) for work on their fields recorded a shift from traditional agriculture to horticulture. The...

-The Hindu   They had sought inter alia universal social security cover for both organised and unorganised sectors Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday said some of the demands raised by the various central trade unions, for which they organised a nationwide general strike for two days in February, were in advanced stage of consideration of the government. Those demands include universal social security cover for workers in both organised and unorganised sectors and...