This will speed up payment of wages under employment guarantee scheme In a major step to alleviate delays in wage payments under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday launched an “e-Shakti Financial Inclusion” scheme – the first of its kind in the country. The scheme aims at providing about three crore villagers with ‘e-Shakti' biometric smart cards, with the Central Bank of...

Members of the Central Employment Guarantee Council (CEGC), the government body for implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, have suggested that jobs be guaranteed round the year in Naxal-hit regions. The suggestion, made by one of the six working groups set up for improving the scope of the MNREGS, came up for discussion at Friday's CEGC meeting here. The group said that in drought prone areas and regions...

China has sought information on India’s poverty reduction programmes, including the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, to beef up its own strategy. A Chinese delegation that met Union Rural Development Minister C P Joshi today said the way India has weathered the economic meltdown without suffering much damage, has led them to enquire into poverty reduction programmes like MGNREGA. The Chinese delegation led by representatives from the State Council Leading...

The RTI application spilled out mind-boggling inconsistencies “THIS is our NREGS [National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme] farm pond [water harvesting structure],” says 24-year-old Dhanpati with a flourish. Puzzled by his rhetorical declaration, I ask him: “Where is it?” “It is this. You are standing on it,” he says with a wry smile. The farm pond, one of the agricultural revival measures planned by the Central government under the scheme, has not been dug at...

On Thursday in the presence of chief minister Nitish Kumar, worker Shyam Narayan Chauhan from Patna district put his finger print on a handset which matched with the biometric mark stored in his E-Shakti Smart Card that he possessed and flaunted as his new pride. Since the card is linked with financial inclusion of the card holder, he also drew Rs 300 from the total sum of Rs 397 in...