The rural development ministry has expressed its reservations on linking wages paid under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) with minimum wages mandated by states for farm labour. In an internal note, which was reviewed by Mint, the ministry said such a step could lead to the states upwardly revising minimum wages for farm labour, an increased burden that the Central government then would have to bear. The ministry,...

A growing shortage of farm hands and smaller land holdings are forcing many farmers to mechanise their farms, allowing multinational agri implement companies to tap into Indian market. A 2006 study by consulting firm Zinnov said that the agri equipment market in India would grow at a compounded rate of 5% between 2006 and 2010 to touch $8 billion. Today, a large number of Chinese, Japanese, American and Italian firms has...

There have been reports that as many as 150 persons including children reportedly died in Bihar and Madhya Pradesh in the last year. However, Minister of State for Agriculture KV Thomas in his reply to Parliament earlier this week claimed there were no starvation deaths in the country during the last year. “No state government, Union Territory administration has reported any incidence of starvation death during last three years,” he said...

Calls for “suitable directions” on paying statutory minimum wages A follow-up to NAC meeting, which felt there should be no deviation from statutory wages Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat Chief Ministers have also made a strong plea for minimum wages Sonia Gandhi has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh urging “suitable directions” on paying statutory minimum wages to workers employed under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS). The November 11 letter is...

The NAC proposals for the food security bill are narrow and lack in vision. What is needed is a comprehensive bill with universalisation of PDS and a focus on child malnutrition.   There was much excitement when food security became one of the issues in the manifestos of most major political parties in the run up to the 2009 General Elections. With burgeoning food stocks, double-digit food inflation, stagnant malnutrition rates, declining...