Impressed with the work done by Gujarat in use of geographic information system, a central expert group has recommended the state's programme as a "base model" to develop a "national framework" for utilisation of the technology in monitoring and implementation of NREGA. The expert group, headed by Rural Development Ministry Secretary B K Sinha, noted in a recent meeting that Gujarat has done "relatively fair amount of work" on the use...

The Congress today said activists and NGOs did not have a monopoly over the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. Former Congress MP from Gujarat, Madhusudan Mistry, said activists had no business questioning the credibility of politicians like him on NREGA. He was referring to a note circulated by Aruna Roy and Jean Dreze at a meeting of the Central Employment Guarantee Council (CEGC) last month. The note referred to a...

After taking on Suresh Kalmadi and Co on the Commonwealth Games, Rajya Sabha MP and former panchayati raj minister Mani Shankar Aiyar has now trained his guns on the UPA government and the Planning Commission for bureaucratising all flagship programmes like the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and the National Rural Health Mission. In a free-wheeling interview with ET, Mr Aiyar said instead of relying on panchayati raj institutions for better...

While there is all-round concern about how the NREGA funds are being utilised at the grass-roots level, the Union rural development ministry has initiated the process of inducting technology to streamline the delivery system under NREGA. This will have a revolutionary impact on programme delivery. With about 50 million people working on site in 2,50,000 panchayats all across the country, the magnitude of the task is daunting. However, once the initial...

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MG-NREGA) has been in news mainly due to corruption or inefficiency. The country has spent close to Rs 40,000 crore this fiscal but a large number of urban middle class people and opinion leaders don’t know what to make of it. Cynicism apart, the rights-based scheme has proved to be a game-changer in rural India despite mixed success. The scheme has been relatively...