Two ministries concerned with rural development are at loggerheads over running of the government's flagship scheme- the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). The agriculture ministry is protesting the way the Rs 40, 000 crore programme is being executed, saying it has increased the burden on agriculture, which is showing just about two percent growth now.   "State-level studies by the Agro Economic Research Centres on wage rate, food security...

The Mamata Banerjee government is planning to take politics — or at least political symbols — out of panchayats, the foundation on which the Left built the edifice that remained impregnable for 34 years. “We would like to have non-political rural bodies as it would uproot petty politics that often halts development projects in rural areas. If things go as planned, the required amendments in the act would come into force...

-The Indian Express   Government of India statistics show that apart from being the national capital, Delhi is also the rape capital, with the highest number of rape cases (414) being registered in the city-state last year. Now, figures tabled in Parliament show, the city also enjoys the dubious distinction of being second-highest when it comes to number of complaints by women relating to police harassment and police apathy. While Uttar Pradesh leads the...

-The Hindu   The Rajasthan Cabinet on Monday put its seal of approval on a controversial decision to give khatedari rights to over 30,000 farmers occupying the custodian land in Alwar, Bharatpur, Hanumangarh and Sriganganagar districts, vacated mostly be those driven out of the State during the Partition, by paying a nominal regularisation fee. The farmers, whose ancestors were allotted the custodian land, were earlier required to pay 25 per cent of the...

-The Times of India If you have a kutcha house or have a tarpaulin to cover youself, the socio-caste survey will not consider you homeless. If a farmer has a hand-pump provided by the government or a kisan patra to take loans against that, the same BPL scheme could now disqualify him from a BPL card.  If a widow has a 16 year-old son, she may end up losing the BPL status...