The implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) is plagu-ed by a series of lapses including financial misappropriation worth several crores of rupees and graft leading to booking of cases against officials including mandal parishad development officers and suspension of several technical and field staff in Godavari districts. In East Godavari, a whopping amount of Rs 4.06 crores were found misappropriated during social audit being held at the village...

Union Rural Development Ministry has invited suggestions from the State Governments on 50 per cent upfront payment of wages to workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA) with a view to check complaints of delayed payment to workers. “Other suggestions being considered by the Union Rural Development Ministry to check delayed payments include formation of a committee including workers’ representatives to take work measurements,” said an...

As the country awaits another central government Budget, there is a growing demand for more financial muscle on several fronts. But, is throwing money at complex problems really a solution? A look at the progress of a crucial program of the government, the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), indicates that money can’t buy everything. One of the biggest bottlenecks facing policy-makers is that of medical personnel. Recently released data by...

‘Entitlements under NREGA violated’       Jean Drèze is a Development Economist of Belgian origin (now an Indian citizen) and has co-authored several books with Nobel laureate Amartya Sen. He studied Mathematical Economics at the University of Essex and did his PhD (Economics) at the Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi. Jean has made wide-ranging contributions to development economics and public economics, with special reference to India. He is currently a visiting...