-Live Mint Panel recommends Wages under the MGNREGS be made equal to or higher than the minimum wage determined by state govts New Delhi: A high-level panel constituted by the previous Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government has recommended that Wages under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) be made equal to or higher than the minimum wage determined by state governments. The panel, headed by S. Mahendra Dev, director...

-The Hindu Business Line The case against labour inspector raj is overstated. Labour courts need to be strengthened The labour reform debate in India has acquired renewed vigour under the new government. The Rajasthan and the Haryana governments have recently proposed to amend a few Central labour laws. The Ministry of Labour and Employment has also circulated labour reform proposals. The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion has issued an "advisory" to the...

-Down to Earth Blog The performance of nutrition indicators amongst Dalits is improving, it is nowhere near the catch-up pace Does a new government and a strong Prime Minister claiming to hail from the backward caste augur Achche Din for Dalits too? We hope so! But political commitment-or lack of it-has multiple manifestations. In a deeply stratified society like India with entrenched elitism, people from the Scheduled Caste (referred to as Dalits...

-The Indian Express Focusing on private asset creation will only exacerbate its design and implementation failures. In his budget speech, Arun Jaitley shied away from taking a tough stand on the MGNREGA. In a seemingly non-controversial comment, he emphasised that "wage employment would be provided under MGNREGA through works that are more productive, asset creating and substantively linked to agriculture and allied activities". The subtext, however, is controversial. As argued below, far...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: When it comes to healthcare, some are more equal than others for the government. Under the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) which covers central government employees, including serving and retired babus, current and ex-members of Parliament and the judiciary, the annual per capita expenditure is more than Rs 5,000. In contrast, the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), which caters to the rural masses, spends just...