Once lauded as a model state for implementation of MgNREGA — the flagship programme of the UPA government — the state is on the backfoot nowadays as far as the scheme is concerned. Even as the Opposition BJP and the ruling Congress try to extract political mileage out of sarpanches agitation, at stake is the very scheme that has not only reduced the migration of labourers to other states but...

The state cabinet on Monday hiked the daily minimum wages under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MgNREGA) from the present Rs. 110 to Rs. 157 and approved the recruitment of 413 computer teachers. Briefing the media after the cabinet meeting, chief minister Digambar Kamat said that although the centre has fixed ` 110 as the minimum daily wages for people employed under the MgNREGA, it is not...

Government has set up an expert group to devise better methods to achieve convergence of MgNREGA activities with that of various water conservation and management programmes. The 30-member expert group, constituted by the Rural Development Ministry, will be headed by the CEO of the National Rainfed Areas Authority. "It has been decided to constitute an expert group to devise process, methodologies and mechanisms for convergence of Mahatma Gandhi NREGA with...

Sunday will mark the fifth anniversary of the landmark National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (later rechristened the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, or MgNREGA). At a time when the country is debating the contours of similar landmark legislation for food security (the National Food Security Act), it is time to evaluate the working of MgNREGA, initially implemented in 200 of the country’s poorest districts and expanded to all...

Sunday will mark the fifth anniversary of the landmark National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (later rechristened the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, or MgNREGA). At a time when the country is debating the contours of similar landmark legislation for food security (the National Food Security Act), it is time to evaluate the working of MgNREGA, initially implemented in 200 of the country’s poorest districts and expanded to all...