Even though the Central Government agreed to link the wages paid under MG-NREGA to the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPIAL), it shied away from paying statutory minimum wages in various states of India. Their logic for this: Lack of clarity on who will bear the extra financial burden—the Centre or the states? A letter from the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to UPA and NAC Chairperson Sonia Gandhi dated 31...

“Government callous to plight of people groaning under spiralling prices of food items” Nine political parties, including four Left parties, on Thursday announced a week-long nationwide agitation against price rise. The United Progressive Alliance government was callous to the plight of people groaning under spiralling prices of food items, they alleged. “We have decided to jointly conduct a week-long agitation against the price rise from February 3 to 9. During the...

The past several months have seen much tumult. From the Commonwealth Games (CWG) to 2G, with garnishing from the Adarsh housing cooperative and the loan fraud, all have provided high octane fodder to Indian politics and the media. However, since the last week of December 2010, another element has intruded into the political/media space, and that is the rising prices of vegetables. Vegetable prices show a seasonal variation, with prices dropping...

An innovative mechanism to save farmers from exploiting traders, which India implemented as a national model in the 70s, is now being blamed for rising vegetable prices.     Agricultural produce marketing committees (APMCs) have become archaic and vegetables and fruits need to be taken out of these local market hubs, analysts say. “They have turned into platform for hoarders, rather than a buyer-seller platform,” farm expert Sompal, who was formerly union agriculture...

Manmohan turned down Sonia Gandhi's request He agreed to an index-linked rise in current wages Expressing distress at the Prime Minister's refusal to pay the statutory minimum wages to workers under the employment guarantee programme, a group of 150 social activists has criticised the government's decision to merely allow an index-linked rise in current wages. They accused the Prime Minister of further undermining the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) by...