-The Hindu Business Line The West Bengal Government will aim to provide up to 60 days' job to beneficiaries under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MgNREGA) this year. West Bengal has performed better than other States in the country in terms of providing rural employment, the Chief Minister, Ms Mamata Banerjee, said addressing a rally in Lalgarh village in West Midnapore district on Tuesday. “In spite of starting from the...

-The Financial Express Food minister KV Thomas’ proposal of giving grain as part payment of wages under the MgNREGA stands to undo most of the progress the government has made in trying to curb leakages in distribution of subsidies. While close to half of food to be given through ration shops is believed to be making its way to the open market, the UIDAI-based system’s attempt is to give cash grants...

Difficult times call for difficult measures. Pushed into a corner by an unsustainable fiscal deficit and various sectors and programs (including the proposed food security legislation) screaming for a greater share of the budget pie, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in India has been forced to do what it might not have otherwise—reduce its marquee job guarantee scheme’s allocation in a big way for the first time.  In one...

MgNREGA can only succeed if politics is taken seriously in the design of accountability mechanisms Does political competition enhance a poor person’s access to anti-poverty initiatives such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MgNREGA)? Just as some economists believe that competition is an effective way to improve management and productivity, in politics too, some hold that political competition is better than single-party monopoly, because it forces political parties...

-The Times of India GUWAHATI: Hundreds of Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) activists were prevented by police from staging a demonstration in the Golaghat district on Saturday. KMSS claimed that four of their members were injured when police used force to stop their procession, which was heading towards the sub-division office. The activists were also detained. "We were about 300 people in the procession. We planned the protest after the district administration...