-The Hindu Union Rural Development Ministry asks State government to return Rs.151.9 crore spent on construction of platforms for drying fish and grain, in the name of foodgrain storage yards The Union Rural Development Ministry has served a notice on the Telangana government asking it to return ₹151.9 crore spent under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) on construction of fish/grain drying platforms, which is not permitted under the...

-The Hindu Allow more flexibility at the ground level, says internal study commissioned by the Ministry of Rural Development An internal study commissioned by the Ministry of Rural Development has argued for decentralisation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), allowing for more “flexibility” at the ground level.  The Ministry recently made public the report of the sixth Common Review Mission which surveyed seven States — Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh,...

-Down to Earth The employment scheme worked as a lifeline for rural Indian households during the COVID-19 pandemic Lack of awareness and complexity of application process hold women back from applying for work under the central government’s Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), according to a recent report. Women beneficiaries struggled to enrol in the scheme, the report suggested. Most of them found enrolling for work a complex and time-consuming process....

-The Hindu To ensure transparency, the Union Government had made it mandatory for all State Governments to use the mobile application to record attendance of workers Five months after the Union Government's order making it mandatory to capture attendance of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) workers through government mobile application-National Mobile Monitoring System (NMMS) at work sites where 20 or more workers are employed, at least three States —...

-The Hindu The employment scheme will work in tandem with the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana to help take up treatment of about 30% more land than feasible with the current scheme size With limited funds to deal with the gargantuan task of restoring degraded land and reversing desertification in the country, the government is now planning to bring convergence between the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) and the...