Though persons with disabilities are entitled to at least 3 per cent jobs in the government sector, they account for barely 3,650 of the estimated 5.25 lakh State government employees. Nearly 15 years after Parliament passed the Persons with Disabilities Act (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) providing 3 per cent reservation in jobs, persons with disabilities continue to struggle for their rights and livelihood. Posts not identified “A majority of...

The undersigned demand that the plan to link the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) to Aadhaar (or UID) be revoked immediately. This is an extremely dangerous move that threatens to cause havoc in MGNREGA's fragile structure. The Ministry of Rural Development has put out a tender (dated October 11, 2010) worth Rs.2,162 crore to engage “service providers” for MGNREGA under a “public private partnership” model. The contract includes...

In a move that might put the Union government in conflict with the states, the Ministry of Rural Development has recommended merging the census to identify below poverty line (BPL) families with the caste census to accelerate the process of determining the number of poor, according to a person familiar with the matter. The caste census, conducted by the Registrar General of India, or RGI, is due to begin on 1...

The Centre will send "monitors" to Madhya Pradesh to look into alleged financial irregularities worth crores of rupees in several works done under its flagship rural employment guarantee scheme.   Official sources said the action came after several non-government organisations and self-help groups approached Rural Development Ministry, nodal agency for executing work through under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGA), regarding alleged corruption in the programme meant for people living...

The Prime Minister’s Office is expected to have a tough time making up its mind on the right wages for workers under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA). For, the labour and rural development ministries have taken different positions on the matter. A labour ministry note sent to the rural development ministry (MoRD) says the minimum wage notified in each state — often higher than the NREGA set one —...