With manufacturing sector growth in the Eleventh Plan period estimated at 8 per cent against 11-12 per cent required to create about 2 million additional jobs in the country, the Prime Minister’s National Council on Skill Development (NCSD) is considering recommending to the Rural Development Ministry that the UPA’s flagship rural job guarantee scheme (NREGS) be widened to include providing “skill development” to unskilled wage seekers. The issue is likely to...

Three pronouncements made on three consecutive days this month by the Supreme Court of India have brought relief to different groups of economically and socially deprived people. The beneficiaries include children sold out by poor parents to work in circuses as child labour; young men and women determined to get married crossing caste barriers and harassed for that very reason by ‘khap panchayats'; and the hungry poor across the country...

They continue schooling from an ashram run by a social worker Administration and voluntary organisations should educating the tribals on the ways of development Tribals must be assured that their resources will not be exploited by outsiders Seven-year-old Baiju wears a lost look. His eyes look pale, but his gaze penetrates you. He only mumbles his name and his weak structure is indication enough of his fragile health. At the tender age of...

Belgaum ZP CEO Govinda Raju has issued orders, suspending four gram panchayat secretaries for "allegedly" misusing government grants and for failing to discharge their duties. The suspended officials are A A Limbikai and S G Patil, secretaries of Krishna Kittur and Tangadi GPs (Athani taluk), respectively, and N J Dhamanekar and H P Limboji, secretaries of Mallapur (PG) and Koujalagi GPs (Gokak taluk), respectively. Limbikai was suspended for "allegedly" not implementing National...

The Orissa government has given its consent for a CBI inquiry into the alleged multi-crore rural job scam under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). "We have given consent for a CBI probe into the alleged irregularities under MGNREGA," chief secretary B K Patnaik said. He said the ministry of rural development had asked the state government to give its consent on a specific format before a notification was issued...