-The Telegraph New Delhi: The finance ministry has favoured a proposal to increase the "material" component in projects under the rural job guarantee scheme to facilitate the creation of durable assets. The rural development ministry is, however, having second thoughts, although it had proposed the change in the labour-material ratio from 60-40 to 51-49 for projects under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. The scheme, which seeks to provide 100 days...

-The Indian Express The finance minister plans to scrap the supply of subsidised kerosene through the public distribution system (PDS) and high time, too. To begin with, why has the kerosene subsidy needed reform for decades and yet reform never materialised? Kerosene obtained through the PDS, being cheaper, is used to adulterate diesel and petrol. Kerosene leakages in the PDS are estimated to be 40 per cent of total allocations. The diversion...

-PTI   Having already crossed the fiscal deficit target in November, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday hinted at more cuts in spending so as to contain it within limits for the current fiscal, saying he does not believe in living on borrowed money. "We're trying to rationalise expenditure as far as the government is concerned because we do not want the government to live on borrowed money indefinitely," he told a gathering...

-The Guardian After a decade of success, the landmark scheme is being starved of money by a central government seemingly intent on reining in rural wage growth Ten years ago this week, the Indian parliament unanimously passed the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). It was a historic legislation based on two interlinked goals: ensuring livelihood security to rural residents by providing at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment...

-Business Standard While the revised estimates of the gross domestic product (GDP) suggest the Indian economy turned the corner in 2013-14, concerns remain over the durability of this nascent recovery. Particularly worrying is the recent slowdown in rural wage growth, which signals a weakening of rural demand. Growth in rural wages, which had averaged 18 per cent in the previous few years, fell to less than five per cent in September...