-The Indian Express A renewed funding squeeze may undermine MGNREGA’s recent revival, fear civil society activists. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme which guarantees 100 days of wage employment per year to rural households, may have staged a revival in the last two quarters after showing a declining trend in person-days generation during the first year of the Narendra Modi government. But the turnaround could well be temporary,...

-PTI A parliamentary panel today expressed dissatisfaction over lack of grievance redressal mechanism in a number of states for MGNREGA and pitched for strong monitoring for successful implementation of the flagship rural job scheme. The Standing Committee on Rural Development, chaired by AIADMK MP P Venugopal, in its eighteenth report said, "Slow progress on appointment of ombudsmen speaks volumes about functioning of the department of rural development on the issue. The Committee,...

In its performance audit of the Mid Day Meal Scheme (MDMS) carried out in 27 states (except Mizoram) and 7 Union Territories (UTs) during the period 2009-10 to 2013-14, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India has observed that the provision of noon meals in public schools could not stop children's enrolment in private schools because quality of education imparted is a major concern among the guardians. (Please check the...

-The Times of India New Delhi: They may be some of the most backward states in the country, but when it comes to women empowerment these states have topped the charts and are well ahead of their more prosperous counterparts like Gujarat, Punjab, Goa, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. One of the parameters to judge women empowerment is by knowing how many are functioning as elected representatives. The government data on elected women...

-Hindustan Times A ban on slaughter doesn’t automatically lead to a flourishing cow population, an HT analysis of government data has found, with states like Madhya Pradesh — where cow killing is outlawed — reporting a more than 40% decline in their numbers in rural areas over a decade. Between 2003 and 2013, at least nine states registered a significant decline in the ownership of cows by the rural households, according to...