The Andhra Pradesh Government has released a social audit primer for the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme. Releasing the primer here on Monday, Mr Vatti Vasant Kumar, Minister for Rural Development, said the primer would help the people understand various issues involved in measuring the works and expenditure in the job guarantee scheme. “It will bring awareness among the members of Gram Sabhas, community and elected representatives on the implementation of the...

The National Advisory Council's proposals on the Food Security Bill represent a bad deal for the poor. The struggle for an effective and equitable Food Security Bill (FSB) has received a setback with the disappointing proposals put forward by the National Advisory Council. There is a disturbing disjuncture between what is being claimed and the actual implications of the proposals. Indeed it may be said that the NAC proposals create new...

The National Advisory Council, led by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, has come up with the muchawaited contours of the National Food Security Act. The NFSA, it is hoped, will become India’s flagship programme for tackling hunger and malnutrition, equal in scale and vision to the ambitious and highly successful Fome Zero Programme launched by President Lula Da Silva in Brazil. The UPA government is also hoping that the NFSA will...

The State Government has announced that it will be appointing ombudsman to monitor the works taken up under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR) Minister Jagadish Shettar, answering a query by S R Patil (Cong) in the Karnataka Legislative Council said that a vigilance committee as well as the ombudsman will be appointed to look into the problems. Patil, during the question hour,...

Small and marginal farmers from SC and ST communities are going to raise horticulture crops, mainly cashew nut on assigned lands over about 4,000 acres, 1,000 acres in agency areas, under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NR-EGS) in East Godavari. Horticulture authorities target to raise several horticulture crops on government assigned lands in the possession of small and marginal farmers to help them improve their sources of earnings. They are...