The Supreme Court on Monday granted four weeks to the Centre to take a clear stand regarding a CBI probe into alleged misuse of funds allocated to the States. The court was dealing with a petition alleging misappropriation of funds under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in Orissa. In an interim order on the writ petition filed by the Centre for Environment and Food Security, a three-Judge Bench,...
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Why was Niyamat Ansari Killed? : The Politics of NREGA and the Maoists by Avanish Kumar
The gruesome murder of NREGA activist Niyamat Ansari has shocked the progressive civil society and political groups in the country. According to reports (one, two), Niyamat Ansari had exposed a case of corruption in NREGA and an FIR was lodged against a former BDO and another Panchayat Sevak of Manika block, Latehar (Jharkhand). On 2nd March 2011, Niyamat Ansari was picked from his house and beaten to death. The reports...
More »Strengthen Forest Rights Act, says National Advisory Council
Recommends guidelines to be issued by Tribal Affairs Ministry The National Advisory Council (NAC) has drawn up detailed operational guidelines, which it has recommended that the Union Tribal Affairs Ministry issue to the States for strengthening the Forest Rights Act (FRA). These guidelines can be issued under Section 12 of the FRA. One, the gram sabhas that are called for enquiry and verification of claims should be convened at the level of...
More »Funding crisis hits efforts to make banking services easy for Nrega beneficiaries by Devika Banerji
A funding crisis has hit the government's efforts to leverage the banking correspondent model to provide banking services to the beneficiaries of its flagship rural employment guarantee scheme. Work has stopped in Orissa, the first state to adopt the model in all districts, after State Bank of India (SBI) refused to bear the cost of this financial inclusion drive for the beneficiaries of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee...
More »17 workers get unemployment allowance under NREGA
Altogether 17 workers of Dungarpur district have received unemployment allowance after they were not given work under provisions of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). Since implementation of the MGNREGA in the state, this is the second such instance of unemployment allowance payment, widely seen as an assertion of the workers' right under the Act. In 2009, a lone labourer in Bhilwara was paid the allowance after...
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