-The Financial Express Women, employed under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme across the country, get only 78 per cent of the minimum wages paid to men, according to Indian Express report. The Ministry of Rural Development panel report said that not a single state has been able to enforce the payment of full minimum agricultural wages to its women workers. This comes after the panel had recently...

-Down to Earth MGNREGA budget has declined in real terms over the years, despite claims of “highest ever” allocations In 2004, before India had any legal welfare entitlements for the informal sector, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Bill, was furiously debated in the Parliament and the media. The aim of this legislation was to address the crisis of under employment and unemployment in the rural economy and provide job opportunities through public works...

Will you go and make complaints to the same public official against whom you have a grievance? Of course not. However, in a judgement dated 21 July, 2017 by a two-judge Supreme Court (SC) bench, it has been observed that officers in charge of implementation of the National Food Security Act (NFSA), were also designated as District Grievance Redressal Officers (DGROs) by several state governments. Section 15 of NFSA The SC...

-The Indian Express Government has an opportunity to enhance use of social audit to monitor schemes In contrast to its rhetoric, the current government’s record on transparency, accountability, and citizen participation has been uninspiring. Even essential laws such as the Lok Pal and the Whistle Blower Protection Act are yet to be operationalised. However, recent developments on social audits, the conduct of which actually finds a place in the BJP’s 2014...

-Scroll.in Instead of wages for a short period of time, the family running the project in Lanka village will create an asset for life. Mahavir Parhaiya’s household in the remote village of Lanka in Latehar district of Jharkhand is bustling with activity. They are busy working on setting up a mango plantation on what was once a barren plot near their house, under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act...