The peasants’ organisations of the four Left parties in West Bengal have called the Mamata Banerjee government “insensitive” to the plight of farmers and have decided to mobilise them to launch a campaign. The state government is already under fire from the farmers’ community for failing to procure paddy at the minimum support price (MSP) and provide jobs under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS). The CPM’s peasants’...

-The Asian Age The CBI probe into the alleged irregularities in implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in Orissa, has revealed that certain work orders were allegedly issued in the name of state government officials in Kalahandi and Koraput districts of the state. According to sources the agency, which has completed its investigation into the preliminary enquiry (PE) registered to probe irregularities in implementation of the MGNREGA,...

-PTI Allegations of fund leakages notwithstanding, the MGNREGA scheme has improved access to financial services for farmers and holds a great scope for further agricultural and economic growth of the country, a World Economic Forum report said today. Focus on soft infrastructure in the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) has led to successes in land rights issues, it said. Launched in 2005, MGNREGA is UPA government's flagship social programme. The...

The hunger and malnutrition situation in the country has shown marginal improvement, according to the HUNGaMA report. ONE area that has always bothered policymakers in a growth-obsessed economy is the state of the social sector, in particular figures indicating the numbers of people going hungry or are homeless and children who are out of school, the poor nutritional status of women and children, and the high infant and maternal mortality rates....

Poor workers are being paid wages as low as Rs 1-10 for a hard day's labour in states like Rajasthan and Karnataka under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme which promises a real wage of Rs 100 per day.  Documents with TOI show that many desperate, poor labourers across the country are being cheated of their hard earned money and the much publicized guaranteed daily wage of Rs 100...