The scheme has reduced rural migration and promoted financial inclusion, but needs to create more durable assets. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) – the only government social welfare scheme named after the other Gandhi, not belonging to Nehru-Gandhi family – has recently completed five years. The performance of the scheme, considered a major pillar of UPA government's strategy of inclusive growth, has been a matter of debate. The...

In Kerala, where paddy cultivation is going out of favour because of labour problems and high costs, the novel System of Rice Intensification’ (SRI) has shown the potential to rehabilitate this crop. This innovative technique ensures substantially higher productivity and lower input use. The SRI system has, in fact, proved its utility in many other regions as well, spanning Sikkim in the north-east to Tamil Nadu in the south. The environment-friendly SRI...

At a time when there are reports of gross irregularities committed in the implementation of schemes under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in the state, a success of the scheme has drawn the attention of many. With the district experiencing scanty rainfall for the last three years, farmers at Hanhat panchayat of Kairo block were hardly getting any paddy to fulfil their annual requirement. But a MGNREGA...

A state Congress leaders' delegation that called on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh accused Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi of siphoning off funds meant for beneficiaries of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme. The delegation of Congress MLAs, MPs and others, headed by Leader of Opposition Shaktisinh Gohil and state party president Arjun Modhwadia, also told the prime minister that the state government had failed to implement various schemes announced...

In Tamil Nadu, untouchability is so deep-rooted that there are separate burial spaces for Dalits and upper castes even in some urban pockets. “Samarasam ulavum idame Nam vaazhvil kaanaa Samarasam ulavum idame… Jaathiyil melor enrum Thaaznthavar keezhor enrum bethamillathu Ellorum mudivil serndhidum kaadu Thollai inriye thoongidum veedu Ulaginile ithuthaan Nam vaazhvil kaanaa Samarasam ulavum idame…” (Here, in this place pervades equality Which one could not have seen ever in one's lifetime! Steering clear of caste discriminations Such as the high, the low and...