The government is exploring whether it can use the biometric smart cards issued for its flagship health insurance scheme to stop misappropriation of funds under its Rural Employment scheme. The rural development ministry is in talks with the labour ministry to use the biometric smart cards issued for the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) for identifying beneficiaries of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). "I have seen truck drivers...
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Centre seeks report from Madhya Pradesh govt over MGNREGS graft
-DNA The Centre has asked the Madhya Pradesh government to send "on priority basis" its action taken report on alleged corruption to the tune of several crore in works done under its flagship Rural Employment guarantee scheme. Senior officials in the rural development ministry said the state government has not yet sent its ATR over the series of irregularities pointed out by the ministry. "We are concerned over the irregularities and sought...
More »Left behind in a web of debt and poverty by Malia Politzer
The passport office in Hyderabad reported the highest number of passport applications recorded in Indian history (at least 450,000) and it expects an increase of 15-20% this year Jamuna Kunta sits stiffly in a plush red chair at the Hyderabad press club, holding her head proudly erect as she quietly recounts the events leading to her husband’s suicide in Dubai. A farmer from Karimnagar, a rural district in Andhra Pradesh, her husband...
More »The other side of food inflation: Farm labour costs rise 50% in two years by Harish Damodaran
Everyone knows how much food prices have risen in the last few years. Not everyone, however, knows how much costs have spiralled for those who produce the food you and I eat. Data on daily wage rates for agricultural operations, compiled by the Labour Bureau at Shimla, show huge increases to have taken place in most States during 2009 and 2010. Andhra Pradesh, for instance, has seen farm wage rates – the...
More »SC asks CBI to probe scam in six districts, submit report in six months
-The Business Standard The Supreme Court today asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe into the alleged irregularities in the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in six districts of Orissa. The apex court has directed the Central investigative agency to submit its report within six months. The CBI has been asked to check if the operational guidelines of the Central scheme were duly complied...
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