Anish Begum, 70, a widow from Bhalaswa struggling to make two ends meet with her meagre pension from the civic body, has to ensure she takes regular medication for diabetes and high blood pressure. “Most of the time, the councillor’s men tell us that the pension for this month has not arrived. Of the promised Rs. 1,000 per month, my mother gets just about Rs. 8,000-9,000 per year. Running from pillar...

It has been a slow but steady move to make scholarship freely available Most of us spend a few hundred rupees a year on the magazines we buy for leisure reading or for keeping abreast of current affairs. But if you are a scientist, you may be shelling out a few thousand rupees for the journal your professional society publishes for its members. Of course, if you are a serious researcher,...

The crux of the problem is not leakages, but unsold stocks. The debate on the public distribution system is being increasingly overwhelmed by the issue of corruption. The pressures on the system are seen primarily, if not entirely, as one of leakages. This preoccupation with leakages has reached a point where the government appears set to throw up its hands and just hand over cash to families, irrespective of whether they...

-The Hindu The Centre will include a number of additional activities in the work schedule of its flagship programme MGNREGS, Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh said here on Saturday. “On Tuesday [May 8], I will announce a major expansion of the activities taken up by MGNREGS on the floor of the House,” Mr. Ramesh told journalists. He said inclusion of new activities would boost the performance of the scheme. An expert...

-The Asian Age The Centre on Friday said it is examining a proposal to provide foodgrains as part of wage payments to agriculture workers under NREGA. Agriculture minister Sharad Pawar also said that another proposal to provide a certain number of NREGA workers for agricultural operation has “not received” any positive response. He was responding to a demand from Congress leader J.D. Seelam in the Rajya Sabha that the government should...