Once lauded as a model state for implementation of MGNREGA — the flagship programme of the UPA government — the state is on the backfoot nowadays as far as the scheme is concerned. Even as the Opposition BJP and the ruling Congress try to extract political mileage out of sarpanches agitation, at stake is the very scheme that has not only reduced the migration of labourers to other states but...
More »SEARCH RESULT
Bank at your doorstep
Technology is helping public sector banks find customers in rural India. This is part of the Centre’s efforts to include villages in the organized financial system; to ensure they are not cheated of their wages. Pilots show promise The current state of rural banking in the country is poor. A recent report, by the National Sample Survey Organization, revealed that 51.4 per cent of the 89.3 million total farmer households in...
More »NREGA schemes check villagers’ exodus to cities by Ruhi Tewari
In Danta village, 15km from Bhilwara city, 30-odd women start filing in at 8.30 am daily to resume work on building a concrete water reservoir. The women are among the 2,000 people in the village who have got work under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) since the scheme, promising 100 days of work a year to one adult member of every rural family, was launched two years ago...
More »The system strikes back by Vidya Subrahmaniam
Missing job cards, fudged muster rolls and diversion of NREGS funds through fake bills. What the Rajasthan social audit has revealed is the tip of the iceberg. Bhilwara-2009 invited a swift and strong backlash — the government backed off realising it had stepped into a quagmire of corruption The battle being fought in the panchayats, streets, offices, and courts of Rajasthan is not just about social audit To understand why civil society...
More »We will not sit quiet on social audit issue in NREGS, Aruna Roy tells Gehlot government by Sunny Sebastian
Activists also opposed to use of JCB machines Hundreds of protesting villagers march towards the Chief Minister’s residence The Gehlot government’s honeymoon with activist groups seems to be nearing its end with their growing frustration over the lackadaisical approach of authorities to the transparency clause in the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS). Though among the best in the country in the implementation of the scheme, Rajasthan has seemingly gone back...
More »