Societies formed to give jobs in sandmining hitherto handled by non-tribals and contractors A small intervention from kind-hearted bureaucrats made a life-changing impact on scores of tribal families who eke out a primitive mode of life in these agency tracts of Warangal district. Vast stretches of dry beds of the Godavari are worth more than a gold mine and these had been exploited by non-tribals and wealthy contractors quarrying the sand. The...

The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) may have revolutionised rural households in more ways than one but on the flip side the UPA government’s flagship scheme has affected agricultural production. Reports on the “negative influence” of NREGA have poured in from every nook and cranny of Meghalaya though the scheme aims to enhance the livelihood and security of people in rural areas by guaranteeing 100 days of wage-employment in a...

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...

After announcing food prices had reached record levels last week, the United Nation’s (UN) Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) is now trying to play down concerns about shortages. The FAO’s representative for Asia and the Pacific region, Hiroyuki Konuma, admitted that food supply and demand were tight but said there were sufficient grain stocks to feed populations. Though certain foods such as sugar, meat, corn and soybeans are selling at a...

The National Fishermen's Federation (NFF) has expressed displeasure over the Coastal Regulation Zone Notification (CRZ), 2011, in its present form, and accused Union Minister of Environment and Forests (MoEF) Jairam Ramesh of having taken the organisation for a ride by not incorporating some of the provisions that had been agreed upon in the talks between the Ministry and NFF representatives ahead of the notification. Matanhy Saldanha, chairman of the NFF, on...