Loss due to MGNREGS wage revision put at Rs.9.8 crore Revised rate below the rate fixed by the State Centre ignored State's plea for wage parity About 9.8 lakh beneficiaries of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) are unlikely to get arrears at the revised minimum wage rate of Rs.150 fixed by the Centre from January 1. The loss on this score has been estimated at about Rs.9.8 crore. A Union Rural...
More »SEARCH RESULT
Hard questions about soft questions by P Sainath
There was in fact a successful auction of spectrum — only it was not conducted by the government but by its corporate sector cronies who made a fortune on the deal. On one pronouncement of his, you have to agree with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. His is not a ‘lame-duck government.' Cooked goose seems the more appropriate soubriquet. However, not a single new scam worth over Rs. 1 lakh crore has...
More »Government put out a new price index, but annual nos. only next Jan
The government put out a promised new price index on Friday that will capture changes in prices of goods and services sold at the retail level, helping the government and the central bank get a better grip on policy tools while tackling inflation. Central banks world over rely on retail prices while framing monetary policy, but the Reserve Bank of India has had to consider mostly the wholesale price index...
More »CPI shows maximum rise in Kerala, Orissa and Meghalaya in Jan
While inflation has been hitting people hard across the country, the rate of price rise has been the most in Kerala, Orissa and Meghalaya, as per government data released today. In all three states, the consumer price index (CPI) overall stood at 108 in January from a base of 100 in 2010, suggesting inflation of 8 per cent. Incidentally, even richer states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Haryana, Delhi and Punjab reported a...
More »Ministry wants more money for rural job guarantee scheme by Ruhi Tewari
The ministry of rural development has demanded a nearly 60% increase in the allocation for its marquee job guarantee scheme in the forthcoming Union budget for fiscal 2011-12. The ministry has sought an allocation of around Rs. 64,000 crore, up from Rs. 41,100 crore, for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), a ministry official said, requesting anonymity. MGNREGS, the flagship programme of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government...
More »