-The Telegraph State is working to plug all loopholes in MGNREGA execution: Source Calcutta: The Mamata Banerjee government has taken up the task of verifying over 2.3 crore job cards, which make people eligible to work under the rural employment guarantee scheme, in an apparent attempt to weed out “bogus cards”, which, according to the Opposition, were issued to misappropriate central funds. The initiative, sources said, is the fallout of the strict monitoring...

-The Hindu Poorer States like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar haven’t been able to use the scheme optimally to alleviate poverty, while economically better-off States like Kerala use it as an asset creation tool, say officials The Central government has constituted a committee to review the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme, especially to assess the programme’s efficacy as a poverty alleviation tool. The committee, headed by former...

-The Hindu Allow more flexibility at the ground level, says internal study commissioned by the Ministry of Rural Development An internal study commissioned by the Ministry of Rural Development has argued for decentralisation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), allowing for more “flexibility” at the ground level.  The Ministry recently made public the report of the sixth Common Review Mission which surveyed seven States — Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh,...

-The Hindu Over past 10 days, the Balangir police have prevented 500 workers from migrating to other States KANTABANJI (ODISHA): Juta Majhi was just a few kilometres away from the Kantabanji railway station in Odisha when the Balangir district police intercepted him last week. Mr. Majhi, 38, a resident of Badibahal under the Khaprakhol police station in the district, and his family members were planning to board a train to Karnataka and travel...

-Business Standard Earlier, state governments had the responsibility to define the minimum quantum of work required to earn a day's wages The central government will now define the minimum quantum of work required to earn a day's wages under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA), as reported by the Economic Times (ET). It was earlier decided by the state government. The Centre may look to make changes under Section 27(1)...