-The Economic Times   rural development minister Jairam Ramesh has urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to re-consider the idea of creating a new category under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, for the rural employment scheme. He has said that the revisit can be done even as the special leave petition (SLP) process moves forward. The Centre has already decided to file a SLP in the Supreme Court against the Karnataka HC's s...

State has been directed to set up a separate development authority The Centre has asked the Jharkhand government to show urgency on both security and development matters in the Left-Wing-Extremism-affected Saranda forest. The State has been directed to set up a separate development authority to carry forward its initiative to provide basic amenities to 7,000 tribal families in the forest, and demanded early allocation of land for setting up 24 more CRPF...

-The Times of India   Dalit Venture Capital Fund is the next big idea as the Centre looks to roll out 'procurement quota' in government purchases from small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The Fund would seek to buy equity in Dalit companies to provide capital support as investment. The Centre is mulling creation of a special purpose vehicle or a capital support system to help develop entrepreneurs among scheduled castes and tribes. The...

The rural development ministry has rejected suggestions to halt the government's flagship rural employment scheme during peak farming seasons, proposing instead to include some core agricultural activities in its ambit to address concerns of labour shortage. This compromise formula follows Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's intervention to resolve differences between the ministries of rural development and agriculture.Agriculture minister Sharad Pawar had called for halting MGNREGA works during sowing and harvesting seasons....

The United Progressive Alliance government's decision to challenge the Karnataka High Court's ruling on payment of minimum wages to workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act came under attack from the Central Employment Guarantee Council (CEGC), the body that governs the programme. And Union Minister for rural development Jairam Ramesh has warned Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that the “atmospherics associated with filing of a special leave petition [in...