-The Indian Express Earlier this month, the ministry of finance announced that over 50 million new bank accounts have been opened and 17 million debit cards issued since the launch of a bold new plan to grant financial access to the poor. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced this initiative, called the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), in a speech in August. Its ultimate goal is to reach 150 million unbanked...
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Making MGNREGA deliver better -Rajiv Kumar
-The Financial Express The proposed MGNREGA changes can help plug the leakages and enhance agriculture productivity There is good news about the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee (MGNREGA) scheme. Recent press reports reveal that the rural development minister, Nitin Gadkari, has instructed lowering of the mandatory share for unskilled wages in total expenditure from the current 60% to 51%. He has also directed, quite rightly, that 50% of the expenditure be...
More »Economists petition Modi against dilution of MGNREGA
-The Business Standard Alarm bells on rural jobs guarantee law A group of around 30 economists from India and abroad have written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking him to ensure there is no dilution or restriction of the provisions of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). They have argued the scheme has wide-ranging social benefits, beside creation of productive assets. They have said corruption was and remains...
More »SOS to PM Modi: Don't Dilute NREGA, Write 28 Leading Economists -Deepshikha Ghosh
-NDTV Prime Minister Narendra Modi has received a sharp letter from 28 leading economists who say they fear his government is trying to dilute the rural jobs guarantee scheme brought in by the previous UPA government. "We are writing to express our deep concern about the future of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act for NREGA," the letter said. (Read the full text of the letter) "It is alarming to hear of multiple...
More »Only 31 days of work per household provided under rural job scheme this year -Ruhi Tewari
-The Indian Express The government at the Centre may have changed, but the performance of the flagship rural job guarantee scheme continues to remain dismal, with households not getting work for even one third of the mandated 100 days (annually) on an average so far this year. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), introduced in February 2006, promises 100 days of employment every year to each rural household. A...
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