Irregularities in the public distribution system (PDS) are rampant in the district due to lack of an effective vigilant mechanism. Fair price shop dealers, who are allegedly having nexus with politicians and bureaucrats, are diverting essential commodities to the black market. There are 2,600 fair price shops across the district and about 11 lakh poor families benefit with these. The vigilance and enforcement officials conducted several raids and unearthed illegally hoarded subsidised rations...

Ration at your doorstep project has proved a hit in Pune district, with nearly 44 villages benefiting from this system. State Food and Civil Supply Minister Anil Deshmukh had launched the scheme under a novel initiative of revamping Public Distribution System (PDS) in the state. The government had earlier received flak for the poor flow of PDS. The minister had announced the method to curb black marketing and plug loopholes...

Even as the state government mulls over the compulsory voting bill, farmers in the tribal Dahod district have decided to boycott the local elections over non-payment of wages under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS). There are about 2,223 such farmers in Fatehpura taluka of Dahod district bordering Rajasthan, who have decided to abstain from voting. Incidentally, police investigation continues in the case in which sarpanchs are alleged to have...

  The sea change that India’s national scheme for rural employment guarantee has accomplished is hard to fathom, its vastness touching the lives or more than 100 million people. The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act of 2005 (NREGA, subsequently renamed after Mahatma Gandhi, or MGNREGA) was a landmark in Indian legislation. Under the act, as of April 2008, for the first time in India’s history, all rural citizens have a legal right...

Even as the state government mulls over the compulsory voting bill, farmers in the tribal Dahod district have decided to boycott the local elections over non-payment of wages under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS). There are about 2,223 such farmers in Fatehpura taluka of Dahod district bordering Rajasthan, who have decided to abstain from voting. Incidentally, police investigation continues in the case in which sarpanchs are alleged to have...