The UPA government has decided to allow cash payment of wages to workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act in a desperate bid to increase demand for jobs that had gone down due to delayed payment of remuneration. Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh on Monday made the announcement stating that the facility would be allowed in all the 60 left wing extremist (LWE) affected districts where...
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NREGS: Districts of Pawar, Prithviraj Chavan have worst record by Gangadhar S Patil
Maharashtra, pioneer of the employment guarantee scheme 35 years ago, is now the worst performer under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) with the home districts of some of its tallest leaders dragging it down. For instance, Pune, home district of Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, has provided negligible work in the past two years despite strong demand for employment. As per the official figures for the current year,...
More »Jairam seeks to modify flagship schemes for Maoist-hit districts by Aman Sethi
Warning that delays in wage payments were crippling the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in Chhattisgarh's Maoist-affected districts, Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh outlined his Ministry's latest attempts to jumpstart development in these areas. In the past, Mr. Ramesh has spoken of prioritising development in the country's 60 ‘Left Wing Extremism' [LWE] districts as a crucial prong in his government's battle against the guerilla army of...
More »Another excuse to cut government spending by Brinda Karat
The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) is under pressure from several quarters. One such source of pressure is the rural rich whose concerns were recently voiced by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, when he raised the bogey of shortage of supply of farm workers because of the employment guarantee scheme. The fact is that the national average for workdays generated under the scheme is less than half of the...
More »Revamped version of MGNREGA to be unveiled on November 14; focus to iron out administrative glitches by Devika Banerji
A revamped version of the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, the government's flagship social sector programme, will be unveiled on November 14. The makeover, crafted by rural development minister Jairam Ramesh and Planning Commission member Mihir Shah, promises to iron out administrative glitches that have dogged the six-year-old scheme, credited for boosting incomes but panned for stoking inflation. "We are ready with version 2 of MGNREGA. It will basically strengthen the...
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