-Livemint.com Delays in payment and indifferent implementation, among other reasons, have blunted the programme’s effectiveness Procedural lapses have marred the implementation of the state-funded job guarantee programme aimed at alleviating rural distress in India, according to a review of the scheme in eight states by the rural development ministry. While delays in disbursal of funds for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) have held up wage payments in Madhya...

Although public goods are meant for everyone to enable living life with human dignity, certain groups are systematically deprived to access them, says a new report from the Centre for Equity Studies -- a NGO based in Delhi. Put differently, not all sections of the society are able to access or enjoy public goods and services on an equal footing, despite social justice being one of the key provisions of...

-Scroll.in The number of people living in modern slavery in India rose by 4.1 million in the last two years, showed the Global Slavery Index, 2016 “No one can imagine such a painful life. There is much torture on me and I am punished even for my minor mistakes like a child. My family is always living under threats. There is also physical violence against me and my family members.” This is a...

-OrissaPost.com Balasore: Thousands of quintals of kharif paddy were reportedly procured from deceased and landless farmers through Kasipada Cooperative Society in this district in 2015-16 due to an unholy nexus between civil supplies officials, cooperative officials and millers. According to a report, some cooperative staff had engaged agents, who purchased paddy from farmers for Rs 700 to Rs 800 per quintal. The procured paddy was subsequently sold to the government through the...

-The Indian Express In 2015-16, India imported a record 5.79 million tonnes (mt) of pulses valued at $ 3.9 billion, with these being even higher at 15.57 mt ($ 10.49 billion) in the case of edible oils. The Narendra Modi government has done well to hike the minimum support prices (MSP) of pulses to be grown this kharif season by 7.7-9.2 per cent, over and above the 5.4-6.3 per cent last...