The Union government is reneging on its legal obligation to pay minimum wages, even to the most deprived sections of the population, in the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. If anyone wants to study the capacity of India's policymakers to turn a progressive piece of legislation upside down, the wage policy under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is a good place to...
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NREGA wages fight gathers steam by Anindo Dey
Seventy-year-old Dau Singh is dancing to the tune of a parody music being belted out in the background by a group of people sitting on the pavement. The song urges people to write letters to their brethren and come there to join the fight. "Come on mazdoors, get into the act to get what you deserve," urges the song. The venue is the Statue Circle in Jaipur, where hundreds of...
More »State govt writes to Centre for enhancing NREGS wages
The state government has written to the Centre for enhancing the wages for MG NREGS workers so as to meet the revised minimum wages given in the state. The government's letter follows constant demand by the mazdoor satyagrahis, who have been on a dharna near the Statue Circle for the past 17 days, for ensuring that the NREGA is also governed by the Minimum Wages Act. The letter, addressed to the...
More »NREGA: Probe exposes several anomalies
Investigation by government officials into Re 1 being paid as wages to NREGA workers at Gudaliya village in Tonk district have brought to the fore large-scale anomalies. The assistant engineer in his report has accepted the fact that though the total expense of the work done in the village is worth only Rs 60,810 but Rs 4,80,472 were paid. “This clearly exposes the fact that false ‘measuring’ books were filed and...
More »Nikhil Dey, Convener of the National Campaign for People's Right to Information interviewed by Bharat Dogra
Nikhil Dey, convener of the National Campaign for People's Right to Information, has been in the forefront of the RTI movement. He speaks to Bharat Dogra about the achievements of the RTI and the challenges ahead: How do you assess the overall impact of the RTI? Sceptics say corruption is increasing more than even before. What I can assure them is corruption would have been much higher without the RTI. In schemes...
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