-The Hindu Despite severe opposition from civil society groups, the Union government has decided to cut the entitlement of a beneficiary to subsidised grain from 7 kg a month (as provided in the National Food Security Bill) to 5 kg under the Public Distribution System, as recommended by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Food. But it will continue providing the 2.3 crore beneficiaries of the Antyodaya Anna Yojna (the poorest of the...

-The Business Standard State governments yet to act on sorting MGNREGA wage delays If our salaries were delayed by two years, two months or even two weeks, how many of us would like it or put up with it? In Araria district in Bihar, workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) complain of not receiving wages for the work done in December 2011. Says Anil Kumar Paswan of Parihari village...

-Down to Earth State plans to bring down its minimum wage rate to that under MGNREGA TO reduce the burden of the state exchequer by Rs 600 crore, Bihar has decided to reduce its minimum wage rate offered to unskilled labourers, and make it on a par with the rate offered under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). This is despite the Supreme Court’s ruling, in many cases, that...

-First Post In an interview with Firstpost, Ajay Chhibber, Regional Director of the UNDP, tells us why India ranks low on the Human Development Index, below China, Sri Lanka and Iran, what we need to do to improve our standing and why welfare schemes are not to be blamed for poor growth or inflation. Excerpts from the interview: * Why does India lag other BRIC countries in the HDI ratings? Compared to the other...

-Outlook Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections due next year, the UPA government has finalised a draft Bill for providing homes to the homeless in rural areas. The draft of the National Right to Homestead Bill, 2013, prepared by the Rural Development ministry, is almost ready for inter-ministerial consultation, official sources said today According to the eleventh plan document, an estimated 13 to 18 million families in rural India are landless, of which...