-Livemint.com There isn’t any big base effect at work here, so the fall in wage growth is the result either of less demand for rural labour or more supply. Either way, it points to rural distress If economic growth is picking up, as all experts agree, why is growth in Rural Wages faltering? The accompanying chart shows that growth in Rural Wages for men, taken as the simple average wage rate for...

If someone is a rural male, what occupation would he prefer? A rational person might say that depending on the highest prevailing daily wage rate in a particular occupation (which is subject to seasonal variation) vis-à-vis the rest, he will make his choice.   An exercise undertaken by the Inclusive Media for Change team based on the latest available month-wise wage data of rural men shows that there is a seasonal variation...

-Livemint.com In the last three years, wages of agricultural labourers have increased only by 0.5% per year while those of non-agricultural workers have declined by 0.25% per year, the worst so far in 30 years The agrarian economy continues to be plagued by falling output prices, declining incomes and increased variation in agricultural production pointing to a situation of uncertainty and vulnerability among most rural residents. This has created an unprecedented demand...

-IANS New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday directed the Centre, in consultation with states, to prepare an "urgent time bound mandatory programme" to make the payment of wages and compensation to the workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). A bench of Justice M.B. Lokur and Justice N.V. Ramana made it clear and directed that in terms of the MGNREGA and Schedule II thereof a "worker is...

-TheWire.in According to activists, the "much awaited Supreme Court judgement in the Swaraj Abhiyan PIL has let down millions of NREGA workers". New Delhi: Activists have expressed disappointment over a recent Supreme Court judgment on the timely payment of wages under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). The judgment, delivered on May 18, was delivered in response to a petition filed by NGO Swaraj Abhiyan. According to activists who are...