-PTI Allegations of fund leakages notwithstanding, the MGNREGA scheme has improved access to financial services for farmers and holds a great scope for further agricultural and economic growth of the country, a World Economic Forum report said today. Focus on soft infrastructure in the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) has led to successes in land rights issues, it said. Launched in 2005, MGNREGA is UPA government's flagship social programme. The...

-The Hindu It will make land acquisition more difficult for private players The Union government proposes to take yet another shot at the crucial land reforms agenda in a bid to help the rural poor affected by a host of land issues and inflation. Having introduced the Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill in Parliament, Minister of rural development Jairam Ramesh, who also holds the Department of Land Resources, aims to address...

How much should workers under rural employment scheme be paid if minimum wage fixed by a state is more than that of the Centre? The Supreme Court has reiterated the Karnataka High Court order, directing the Centre to pay the minimum daily wage rate applicable in Karnataka to labourers employed in the state under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). The Centre had fixed the wage rate for...

Poor workers are being paid wages as low as Rs 1-10 for a hard day's labour in states like Rajasthan and Karnataka under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme which promises a real wage of Rs 100 per day.  Documents with TOI show that many desperate, poor labourers across the country are being cheated of their hard earned money and the much publicized guaranteed daily wage of Rs 100...

-The Hindu   By filing a Special Leave Petition against the Karnataka High Court order directing payment of statutory minimum wages to workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), the United Progressive Alliance government has betrayed its insensitivity to the rights of the poor. The courts have ruled that payment below minimum wage amounts to “forced labour”, which is constitutionally prohibited. The Centre's implacable stand that workers employed...