-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Mangal Singh's three sons were forced to work as daily wage labourers in Gujarat, hundreds of kilometres from their village in Rajasthan's Ajmer district, before the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) was introduced. They were employed there for perilous digging of wells and stayed away from their home for months leaving their 82-year-old father to fend for himself. The NREGA came as a big boon for...

-The Times of India Over two crore households have been denied work under the fund-starved rural job guarantee scheme in the past eight months. This is a direct result of the deep cuts in funding of the scheme and various other changes initiated by the Modi government. With the employment situation still dire and the new government's long-term efforts to catalyze industrial growth still on the drawing board, the failure of...

-Business Standard Government's financial inclusion mission is well intentioned, but it may be putting a severe strain on the banking sector Sometime in August, a rumour went around a small village near Alwar in Rajasthan and in some other parts of the country: "Sarkar jo kala dhan wapas layegi, woh Jan Dhan yojana ke khaato mein baanta jayega" (When the government brings back black money, it will be distributed among Jan Dhan...

-Business Standard Between April and September 2014, the central govt released Rs 13,618 cr to states, against Rs 24,676 cr in the same period last year Kolkata: The Union government has severely cut the funds for Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, one of the largest job-creation programmes in the world, even as it deliberates on framing new norms for it. Compared to last financial year, there has been nearly a 45...

-The Hindu Protest continues on Diwali against non-payment of wages Patna: Development economist Jean Drèze, along with hundreds of protesting MGNREGA workers, observed "Black Diwali" at a village in Muzaffarpur district on Thursday. For over a fortnight, the workers have been organising a dharna demanding payment of dues. Professor Drèze reached Mahant Manihari Panchayat Bhawan under the Kurhani block and sat on the day-long dharna. "Nearly 3,000 workers from six blocks have not been...