It’s been raining “rights” in Indian policy for the last few years — education, work, food, service, healthcare, and much else. This “Diet Coke” approach to poverty reduction — the sweetness without the calories — was always dangerous because of unknown side effects. Commenting in 1790 on the consequences of the French Revolution, Edmund Burke said: “They have found their punishment in their success. Laws overturned, tribunals subverted, industry without...
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UPA Govt's NREGA back on table for removing flaws by Devika Banerji
New rural development minister Jairam Ramesh is working to overhaul the United Progressive Alliance's six-year old flagship rural jobs programme to rid it of all 'manmade' flaws and make the job entitlement more demand driven. The Mahatma GandhiNational Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNERGA), which costs the government Rs 40,000 crore a year - the largest spend on any social welfare scheme - played a key role in catapulting theUPA government...
More »Rural job scheme revamp by Basant Kumar Mohanty
Rural job scheme NREGA will be revamped to address problems such as delayed wage payments, lack of asset creation and poor skill development among the workers. “There are several structural issues in NREGA. The scheme will be restructured in the next one month,” rural development minister Jairam Ramesh said on a day the Sonia Gandhi-headed National Advisory Council reviewed problems in the UPA’s showpiece welfare programme. Ramesh said the NAC’s suggestions would...
More »Prof. Reetika Khera interviewed by The Economic Times
Matter begins: What is the impact of the National Rural Employment Guarentee Act on rural wages? That is the question that the pundits are asking today. It's a query which feeds into a larger question. Six years have passed since NREGA became a legal reality. What is its village-level impact? It's a complex question to answer. NREGA undertakes to provide employment to anyone who asks for it. Which makes it...
More »Agri ministry: Cease NREGA during key farming periods
The ministry of agriculture has written to the ministry of rural development asking them to suspend Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) projects during peak farming seasons because of labour unavailability. The ministry of rural development headed by Jairam Ramesh has still to take a decision on this matter. The secretary of agriculture P.K. Basu in his letter has rung the alarm bells by pointing out that the ministry’s assessment...
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