-Press Information Bureau The India Rural Development Report 2012/13 was released here by Shri Jairam Ramesh, Minister for Rural Development, Government of India. The Report was prepared by IDFC Foundation in collaboration with network partners, the Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS), the Institute for Rural Management Anand (IRMA), and the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR), with contributions from several other researchers, experts and civil society organisations. On...

-The Pioneer Forget about doling out mandatory unemployment allowance under the Mahatama Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), majority of the Congress-ruled States in the country are yet to notify unemployment allowance rules under the UPA's flagship rural job scheme launched in 2007. The rules mandate the States to pay the daily allowance to a registered worker if he is not provided a job within 15 days of the receipt...

-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: The government is working on a new index based on the consumption pattern of rural landless labour to fix Wages under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, a move that is set to result in slower annual wage hike increases under the government's flagship social welfare programme. Rural Wages under MGNREGA are at present based on the consumer price index for agricultural labourers (CPI-AL), which...

-The Indian Express In Gujarat, growth relies on indebtedness. And relegates development. The Gujarat pattern of development has often been arraigned from the left because of its social deficits. Indeed, the state's social indicators do not match its economic performance. With 23 per cent of its citizens living below the poverty line in 2010, Gujarat does better than the Indian average - 29.8 per cent - but it reduced this proportion by...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The goons and police can hang their heads in shame. Together, for once. The Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha today with overwhelming support, with almost every speaker narrating how the police and criminals harass hawkers. The debate wove a tragic tale of exploitation and neglect of the poorest "entrepreneurs" of society while powerful support systems were available...