-Business Standard Between April and September 2014, the central govt released Rs 13,618 cr to states, against Rs 24,676 cr in the same period last year Kolkata: The Union government has severely cut the funds for Mahatma Gandhi National Rural employment Guarantee Act, one of the largest job-creation programmes in the world, even as it deliberates on framing new norms for it. Compared to last financial year, there has been nearly a 45...

-The Hindu ‘Migrant Workmen Act, 1979, often ignored' Chennai: In a bid to keep track of the workforce from other States in the city, the Chennai police have decided to create a database of migrant labourers. On Saturday, a meeting was held between the police and members of Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Associations of India (CREDAI), builders and labour department officials at the Commissionerate. "Deputy commissioners will be the nodal officers to collect...

-The Times of India Jagdish Bhagwati and Arvind Panagariya, hereafter BP, have argued for phasing out the National Rural employment Guarantee Act in favour of cash transfers ("Rural Inefficiency Act", ToI, 23 October). It's surprising-and amusing-that two eminent economists have chosen to make a case based on prior beliefs and some sophomoric wordplay ('mis'leading economists), rather than on the available evidence. A survey by one of us of the empirical literature...

-The Hindu Reports that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government intends to radically restructure the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) have re-ignited public discussion on the scheme. Since its launch, debate on MGNREGA has been synonymous with ideological contestations on the role of the state and its welfare functions. Inevitably, the contours of the debate have been shrill, leaving little space for an evidence-based discussion on the...

-The Hindu The failure of Narendra Modi's infrastructure plan reflects the larger failure of the Indian imagination, a mindless enumeration of ideas that have little or no bearing on Indian reality. When much of what is built is a half-baked imitation of disparate items tried and tested elsewhere, it becomes hard to fault Mr. Modi. If the recent image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi swinging on the jhula with Chinese President Xi...