-The Indian Express UIDAI: PM wants 100 cr enrolment at earliest, linking Aadhaar to passports, benefits. Putting to rest speculation about the fate of the UPA government's flagship Aadhaar project and the Direct Benefits Transfer scheme, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday sought a 100-crore enrolment target under Aadhaar at the "earliest", also asking officials to look into linking passports with its data. The Prime Minister also gave a decisive push to all...

-The Hindu   With water becoming an important cost, and with climate change and soil degradation, the System of Rice Intensification offers disadvantaged farming households better opportunities A truant monsoon is in the offing, with El Niño weather patterns expected to bring about drier conditions. India has the world's largest area devoted to rice, a very water-intensive crop. This is a good time for giving impetus to "more crop per drop" practices, now...

-Down to Earth Union ministry issues orders to all states to meet target of constructing 5.2 million toilets by end of August The Ministry of Drinking water and Sanitation on Friday finalised its 100-day plan, under which it has decided to construct one toilet every second by the end of August this year. Sarswati Prasad, joint secretary for sanitation, issued an order to each state, giving them their respective targets for the next...

-The Indian Express The scheme should be refocused towards creating durable assets in agriculture. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) has a significant influence on agricultural operations and cultivation costs. If its present focus on community works can be reoriented to proactively promote improvements on the landholdings of small and marginal farmers through the creation of durable assets, it will be beneficial for agricultural productivity and incomes. Critics say that...

-The Financial Express MGNREGA must be tweaked in implementation, not design. Before his tragic demise, the Union minister for rural development, Gopinath Munde, gave a clear indication of the new government's priorities on MGNREGA. Both these priorities are vital: using the programme for the creation of productive assets to combat drought and poverty and ensuring timely payment of wages. More than two decades of liberalisation and high economic growth have left India...