In an indication that the ruling Congress may be looking to evolve a comprehensive social security package ahead of the next general election, the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC) has started a consultative process with four central government ministries aimed at linking existing and new schemes for the huge unorganized sector. The plan, according to an NAC member, is to issue one entitlement card to every worker in the unorganized...

The huge expenditure on the food bill, with the attendant leakages, could well make fiscal recovery impossible In the first part of this article, we have estimated the actual cost of implementing the food security bill in its current form. In this part, we now examine the fiscal sustainability of the same. The current state of the revenue and expenditure trends of the Central government (refer table) show that while revenue...

In a report released on January 30, and covered by the world’s press the next day, the United Nations has warned of a severe resource crisis that would overtake the world if current trends persist. A growing population and a rise in the number of middle-class consumers will increase the demand for resources so rapidly that even by 2030 the world will need at least 50 per cent more food,...

-The Asian Age   With several controversies emerging that the funds released for the Mahatama Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) being utilised for other purposes by many state governments, the Haryana government has on Sunday made MGNREGS Fund Act to check the proper and dedicated utilisation of the funds. As per the new notification to this effect, issued by the rural development department, Haryana, funds received from the Union government and...

-The Economic Times   High agricultural wages due to the success of government's flagship employment guarantee programme has hindered the development of micro enterprises in the hinterlands, says a research paper by Indian School of Business (ISB). The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) has facilitated poverty alleviation in rural areas, it has discouraged village-level entrepreneurial ventures, the study has concluded. MGNREGA entitles 100 days of employment in a year to...