A Branch postmaster of Juna village in Bhuj taluka of Kutch and two others were booked for cheating on Friday after financial irregularities of Rs 83 lakh surfaced under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS). The three were identified as postmaster Suleman Sama and his two accomplices, Sajkur Sale and Ibrahim Vija. Police said they were trying to gather more information about Sale and Vija. They were booked under sections...

Continuing with its social sector agenda, the Union Cabinet is expected to consider a proposal to provide health insurance to all workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). The Cabinet will on Thursday consider a proposal to extent the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana to MGNREGS. The scheme, as of now, is applicable only below the poverty line families. Under the scheme implemented in Public Private Partnership mode,...

With manufacturing sector growth in the Eleventh Plan period estimated at 8 per cent against 11-12 per cent required to create about 2 million additional jobs in the country, the Prime Minister’s National Council on Skill Development (NCSD) is considering recommending to the Rural Development Ministry that the UPA’s flagship rural job guarantee scheme (NREGS) be widened to include providing “skill development” to unskilled wage seekers. The issue is likely to...

Belgaum ZP CEO Govinda Raju has issued orders, suspending four gram panchayat secretaries for "allegedly" misusing government grants and for failing to discharge their duties. The suspended officials are A A Limbikai and S G Patil, secretaries of Krishna Kittur and Tangadi GPs (Athani taluk), respectively, and N J Dhamanekar and H P Limboji, secretaries of Mallapur (PG) and Koujalagi GPs (Gokak taluk), respectively. Limbikai was suspended for "allegedly" not implementing National...

The state government on Wednesday constituted a group of ministers to examine the current system for implementation of MGNREGS in the state and suggest suitable modifications to protect the interests of rural poor labourers, apart from considering other demands of the field functionaries. Ministers who are part of the GoM include D Manikya Varaprasada Rao (rural development), V Sunitha Laxma Reddy (pensions & women development), Vatti Vasant Kumar (tourism), B Satyanarayana...