-NDTV Prime Minister Narendra Modi has received a sharp letter from 28 leading economists who say they fear his government is trying to dilute the rural jobs guarantee scheme brought in by the previous UPA government. "We are writing to express our deep concern about the future of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act for NREGA," the letter said. (Read the full text of the letter) "It is alarming to hear of multiple...

-The Business Standard Alarm bells on rural jobs guarantee law   A group of around 30 economists from India and abroad have written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking him to ensure there is no dilution or Restriction of the provisions of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). They have argued the scheme has wide-ranging social benefits, beside creation of productive assets. They have said corruption was and remains...

-The Hindu Chennai: Several leading economists have appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to continue with the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act amid apprehensions that the government might Restrict the programme and not offer it adequate support. In a letter to Mr. Modi, Dilip Abreu, Pranab Bardhan, V. Bhaskar, Ashwini Deshpande, Jean Dreze, Maitreesh Ghatak, Jayati Ghosh, Dilip Mookherjee, R. Nagaraj, Debraj Ray and others argued that despite numerous hurdles,...

-The Financial Express What's clear is it has helped few in its current form Activists have come down heavily on rural development minister Nitin Gadkari for attempting to Restructure the MGNREGA by, among others, changing the mandatory amount reserved for labour; the number of districts that the scheme is to be used for is also to be reduced to just the needy ones. This has been done, the activists argue, to help...

-The Hindu Business Line Will seek removal of Restrictions in ‘peace clause' India has decided to strike a harder bargain on food security at the World Trade Organisation than it did in July. It wants Restrictive conditions attached to the use of the peace clause dropped. New Delhi, which had wanted the ‘peace clause' offering protection against retaliatory action for breaching farm subsidy caps extended indefinitely in return for support to the trade...