The efficacy of implementing the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in the district is questionable. People of Dasmantpur block who were employed under the Act three to four years ago are yet to get their due payment. Sixty labourers of Kaliambo village under Dasmantpur block were engaged in a field channel work under the MGNREGA in 2008. The estimated cost of the project was Rs 8 lakh and...

In Tamil Nadu, untouchability is so deep-rooted that there are separate burial spaces for Dalits and upper castes even in some urban pockets. “Samarasam ulavum idame Nam vaazhvil kaanaa Samarasam ulavum idame… Jaathiyil melor enrum Thaaznthavar keezhor enrum bethamillathu Ellorum mudivil serndhidum kaadu Thollai inriye thoongidum veedu Ulaginile ithuthaan Nam vaazhvil kaanaa Samarasam ulavum idame…” (Here, in this place pervades equality Which one could not have seen ever in one's lifetime! Steering clear of caste discriminations Such as the high, the low and...

Melinda lauds efforts of Bihar's Health Ministry to expedite immunisation rate Philanthropist and software titan Bill Gates on Wednesday said the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation were in talks with the Government of India to introduce new vaccines to bolster the rate of immunisation in the National Rural Health Mission programme. In Bihar to visit community health workers and State officials to witness first-hand the launch of a five-year $80 million...

The villagers under Luing Perbing Gram Panchayat have complained of non-payment of wages under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act for the past three months. The villagers have complained to the local media that the payment of the wages have been entrusted to a company “Calance”, which has failed to pay more than 200 workers since December. The villagers have also accused the company of not returning their bank cards that...

Thousands of workers from the state employed under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) will protest outside Parliament on March 30. The members,of the NREGA worker union from Punjab, allege widespread corruption in the scheme and poor working conditions. “NREGA was implemented from April 1, 2008. As per rules, job cards should have been made by that time, but even now many workers are running from pillar to...