-Economic and Political Weekly The Chhapra tragedy must ask us how we can improve public services, not scrap them altogether. In the aftermath of the ghastly tragedy in Chhapra, Bihar, where 22 children lost their lives after they consumed a government-provided school meal containing organophosphate pesticides, we must demand of the State a far greater commitment to administering large-scale welfare programmes that are meant to improve, not destroy the life of citizens....

-PTI GUWAHATI: The government's spending on Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act scheme in Assam has been declining continuously in the last four fiscals and it dropped by 13 per cent during 2012-13. According to official documents, the total expenditure, including both the Centre and the state's shares, in Assam on MGNREGA during 2012-13 stood at Rs 651.55 crore. However, the same was Rs 748.44 crore during the previous financial year. The spending...

-Down to Earth The decision to reinstate Rs. 162 minimum daily wage follows protests and litigation The Bihar government has rolled back its decision to curtail minimum wages for Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) beneficiary labourers, even as Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh have approached the court on the same issue. The decision to reinstate a minimum daily wage of Rs 162 was taken at a cabinet meeting, officials said. The...

-The Hindu Aruna Roy's decision to terminate her relationship with the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council has returned the spotlight to the ideological divide within the ruling establishment on welfare spending. As the civil rights activist noted in her letter to the Congress president, the rupture came over the Manmohan Singh government's refusal to pay statutory minimum wages to workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act -...

-The Hindu Chennai: The Tamil Nadu story concerning the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) appears to be no different from some other States, when it comes to irregularities in payment of wages, even though the amount involved is much less here. The report of the Comptroller and Auditor-General (CAG), presented in the Assembly on Wednesday, talked of misappropriation of funds in three ways - inflating the number of workers,...