-The Indian Express The cash crunch is hindering the state governments’ relief efforts at every step. Centre must urgently provide additional foodgrain to poorest states for expanding PDS coverage. As the monsoon advances, there is an urgent need to consider what can be done to prevent hunger during the rainy season — the hardest time of the year for poor families in large parts of rural India. The monsoon is expected to...

-Livemint.com There has been demands for linking MGNREGA wage with consumer price index-rural (CPI-R) for an annual revision of wages based on contemporary changes in rural geography NEW DELHI: Odisha’s Keonjhar district administration on Friday said it has become the first in the country to provide higher minimum wages to those taking up jobs under the national rural employment guarantee scheme. In a post on Twitter, the Keonjhar district administration said those working...

-The Indian Express The report on money granted for work that was never done and employment that had never been created assumes significance as the state government has launched three schemes under MGNREGA, anticipating work demand from the nearly 5 lakh migrant workers who have returned home after lockdown hit livelihood in cities. Ranchi: A probe into work done under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in a block of...

-The Hindu They give up seeking alms and take up work under MGNREGA Bengaluru: The lockdown has brought a change in the lives of four nomadic families, traditionally known as “Duramurgi” in Haveri district of north Karnataka, thanks to the Centre’s flagship rural job scheme. These nomadic families, for generations, have been seeking alms by roaming around villages carrying idols of deities on their heads. But with wandering made impossible under lockdown, and...

-Society for Social and Economic Research Monograph 20/3 Key Messages Lack of planning and preparation by the Central government for tackling the COVID-19 pandemic has dealt a massive blow to India’s economy and has caused enormous hardships to working people of the country. Harvesting of Rabi crops • Unplanned and sudden imposition of the lockdown resulted in a massive and unprecedented disruption to agricultural activities such as harvesting, sale of agricultural produce, and purchase...