-The Times of India The Planning Commission has bowed to in-house protests that government was using shortcuts to meet the targeted budget expenditure for dalits and tribals, amending the 12th plan document to insert a pledge to reform the annual spend on these communities. The commission has said it will beef up Scheduled Castes Sub-Plan and Tribal Sub-Plan that mandate the government to spend exclusively on SCs and STs in proportion to...

-The Hindu A mix of social constraints and dearth of employment opportunities has kept women out of the labour market, leading to a huge opportunity cost to the nation Women in India face enormous challenges for their participation in the economy — in a way that mirrors the many injustices they suffer in the society at large. The labour participation rate of women — that is, the number of women in the...

-Outlook Koraput (Odisha): Inquiry conducted by the administration has shown serious irregularities in implementing MGNREGA at Lamtapur block in Odisha's Koraput district, officials said today. Projects worth several lakhs of rupees have been started at various panchayats of the block under the MGNREGA without any work order being issued. "It was found during inquiry that without any work order and funds several works have been executed at the block under the MGNREGA. Work...

-The Hindu The technical glitches that plague cash transfers in Jharkhand may not have arisen with a simpler system that does not need Internet connectivity Pilot cash transfer projects taken up in Jharkhand for MGNREGA Wages have achieved little success due to a variety of logistical, human and technological problems. A year after the launch of these projects, the problems remain unsolved. In Ramgarh district, a majority of the beneficiaries are in Dohakatu...

-The Times of India Crest Cash transfers have been described as the world's favourite new anti-poverty device. As India gets set to implement it, TOI-Crest finds out if the politics will ever be divorced from the cash The UPA government's ambitious plan to introduce direct cash transfers (DCT) by January 1, 2013 reflects both the political desperation of a beleaguered government and the urgent need to reform India's inefficient and corrupt public...