As minister for rural development, Jairam Ramesh oversees the largest spending in the social sector by the government. This includes the marquee Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) that was pioneered by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance in 2006. The minister, an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is known for his forthrightness. In a typically candid interview to Mint on...
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Revised rural job scheme wages only by April by Sreelatha Menon & Dilasha Seth
Unlike the dearness allowance that accrues to the salaries of workers every six months without any hassle, the linking of National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) wages to inflation or the Consumer Price Index for agricultural wages has not led to a smooth annual revision. The revision for NREGA wages is supposed to happen every January after it was introduced last January. However, even a month into the new year, the...
More »Supreme Court upholds verdict matching NREGA pay with state wages
-The Economic Times The Supreme Court has refused to stay a recent Karnataka High Court verdict that has said the central government is liable to pay higher wages under the country's flagship rural employment programme in tandem with that of the state minimum wage rate. It has further asked the government to find a way to end the disparity between the wages paid under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Act (MGNREGA)...
More »More, better jobs in India, says World Bank report by Kalpana Kochhar
India's economic growth has added over seven million new jobs every year for almost a quarter of a century. Workers have seen their wages - adjusted for prices - rise by nearly 3% a year. Poverty rates among wage workers and the self-employed have fallen. Going forward, with swelling numbers of new entrants - and more women entering the job market , as was the case during east Asia's rapid...
More »Centre challenges Karnataka High Court order on NREGS wage
-CNN-IBN The Centre on Monday filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the Karnataka High Court order on minimum wages in National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. The Centre told the Supreme Court that if the Karnataka High Court judgment is not set aside it will impose a burden of Rs 7,500 crore on the Government and cites lack of fund. The Karnataka government has fixed a minimum wage of Rs 145...
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