-The Times of India blog (Voices) Riding on the roads of rural Punjab, a grim spectre unfolds. It is early November and there is fire and smoke all around for the endless land that stretches ahead. It is paddy stubble burning time in the state. This phenomenon is not exceptional to the state of Punjab in India but is also prevalent in Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh. Recently, there has been much...
More »SEARCH RESULT
90% MPs yet to adopt a village in phase-3 of PM plan -Subodh Ghildiyal
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: As many as 475 out of 543 Lok Sabha MPs have not yet identified the village they would adopt for development under Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY), in what indicates a steady decline in interest in the central scheme that was launched by PM Narendra Modi with much fanfare. Only 68 Lok Sabha MPs chosen villages for Phase-3 of SAGY in 2017 while a paltry...
More »Loan waiver is not the solution -Anjani Kumar and Seema Bathla
-The Hindu We need to revisit the credit policy with a focus on the outreach of banks and financial inclusion Since Independence, one of the primary objectives of India’s agricultural policy has been to improve farmers’ access to institutional credit and reduce their dependence on informal credit. As informal sources of credit are mostly usurious, the government has improved the flow of adequate credit through the nationalisation of commercial banks, and the...
More »Denial of MGNREGA entitlements continues in blatant violation of Supreme Court orders
-Press release from NREGA Sangharsh Morcha The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Swaraj Abhiyan in the Supreme Court on the severe drought conditions in the country had drawn the attention of the Court to the inadequate effort of the Central and state governments in implementing the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), amongst other welfare programmes. In its last judgment on issues of MGNREGA workers on 13 May...
More »85% MNREGS wages paid in time this fiscal: Ministry
-PTI According to rural development ministry, there are no preconditions for getting employment under the scheme. New Delhi: The Centre is taking steps to ensure timely payment of wages under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS), out of which 85 per cent of wages have already been paid this fiscal, an official statement said. According to the statement released by the rural development ministry yesterday, there are no preconditions, including...
More »