The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, which has revitalised the rural landscape across the country, stands diminished in the land of its birth, Rajasthan, hijacked and held to ransom by vested interests and stripped of its backbone of an open social audit. As the Andhra experience has shown, there is one ingredient that can bring back its vitality: institutionalising citizen audits. But, is the Rajasthan government up to...

The stance of the ministry of rural development stands null and void. At least, as far as officials of the state government are concerned. For most of them that the delegation of the Mazdoor Satyagrah met on Monday agreed in unison that it is unconstitutional to pay MGNREGA workers anything less that the minimum wages. However, officials expressed their inability to pay more and demanded the total component from the Centre. Recently,...

As the common man continues to reel under the spiraling rise in prices of essential commodities especially key food items and vegetables the forever-rising food inflation is posing a serious challenge to policy makers. Though top government officials, including the Finance Minister and the Chairman of the Planning Commission have repeatedly assured that the food prices will soon stop rising, in reality it has gone the other way.   The rising spree...

With the state government agreeing to increase the minimum wages by 35% with effect from January 1, the focus of the on-going Mazdoor Haq Yatra has now shifted to demands that even NREGA be given the minimum wages from the current freeze at Rs 100. The Yatra originated about a fortnight ago in the state demanding a rise in minimum wages and better implementation of NREGA. The Yatra is supported by...

With the state government finally increasing the minimum wages by 35% from January 1, 2011, the focus of the on-going Mazdoor Haq Yatra in the state is now on increasing the wages under MGNREGA from the current freeze at Rs 100 to meet the minimum wages. Not only activists of the Yatra plan to rake up this issue nationally, but with their prime demands from the state met, the entire focus...