-The Telegraph With the funds blocked, I’ve been unable to pay some suppliers who want to be paid before they supply again, says a scientist Dozens of scientists who had been invited from positions abroad to join academic institutions across India under a prestigious government fellowship have not received research grants or salaries for months, the fellows and other scientists have said. The delay in the release of funds for the Ramalingaswami Fellowships,...

-Down to Earth Zero funds to Bengal, Lakshadweep this year, Centre admits in Parliament; activists ask to use pre-existing mechanisms to handle graft Millions of workers employed under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) have not received wages for months. Workers from West Bengal are especially affected, with 13.2 million people unpaid for seven months.  Bengal is the only state that received no funds under the 100-day work scheme in...

-The Hindu Labour Ministry says a substantial portion of the said population is either pursuing education or engaged in unpaid activities Responding to a recent report of the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), the Union Labour and Employment Ministry on Tuesday said it was “factually incorrect” to infer that half the working age population had dropped out of the labour force as a large proportion was pursuing education or engaged in...

-India Spend/ Scroll.in These programmes should look at skilling the workforce for paid jobs rather than unpaid, part-time volunteers. Central government programmes on water emphasise groundwater management by the community in a decentralised manner but, by and large, these schemes are silent on the availability, training and deployment of a skilled workforce for this task, especially in rural areas. Water management at the most decentralised, local levels is often a part-time, volunteer or...

-The Hindu Why are farm unions seeking a minimum support price for all crops? What are the terms of the committee set up to look into their demands? The story so far: After a year-long agitation on the borders of Delhi, protesting farm unions under the banner of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha have achieved their headline demand, namely the repeal of three contentious laws seeking to reform the storage and marketing of...