The Union rural development secretary, B.K. Sinha, has said that killings of activists working for the betterment of MGNREGS were unique to Jharkhand even though complaints about the implementation of the Centre’s flagship rural job scheme have come in from other states, too. Sinha, who will be visiting Latehar and Bokaro on Saturday to find out more about the murder of NREGS activist Niyamat Ansari, told The Telegraph from Delhi, “We...

A deafening silence hovers over Jerua three days after firebrand activist Niyamat Ansari was dragged out of his home, beaten up and killed for exposing fraud perpetrated by unscrupulous contractors, possibly in cahoots with Maoists, while implementing projects meant to ensure financial empowerment for villagers. Around 150km from the state capital, Jerua is part of Manika block in the Maoist hub of Latehar district. The 10-km mud road through dense forests...

“His death is a planned conspiracy by middlemen and contractors” Niyamat Ansari, a member of the NREGA Sahayata Kendra, was found beaten to death in Jharkhand's Latehar district, 110 km from here, on Thursday. He is said to have exposed many cases of corruption by local contractors in work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). R.K. Malik Inspector-General (operations) said some unidentified persons barged into Mr. Ansari's house...

The budget is a “mixed bag” for the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council, said members. It promises to bring in the National Food Security bill that the Congress chief hopes will signpost UPA-II’s continuing commitment to social and economic inclusion in the way that the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act did UPA-I. But finance minister Pranab Mukherjee’s restatement of the Centre’s position on indexing MNREGA wages to the consumer price...

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...