-The Indian Express Twelve states presently show a negative balance with long overdue unpaid wages, threatening the continuation of the scheme. Despite the recent revival, there is crisis looming for Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA) as the Rural Development Ministry has exhausted more than 95 per cent of its budget provision for the scheme. The fund squeeze has forced Rural Development Minister Birender Singh to write to Finance...

-Down to Earth The rural development ministry had recently demanded an additional allocation of Rs 5,000 crore to maintain the momentum of MGNREGA Civil society has supported the demand made by the Union Ministry of Rural Development to the Ministry of Finance to provide Rs 5,000 crore for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Generation Scheme (MGNREGS). Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), the United Progressive Alliance’s employment generation flagship scheme,...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: Nearly 18 million villagers registered under the rural job scheme face the prospect of toiling without wages as funds have dried up amid a drought-triggered surge in demand for work. Twelve states have run up "negative balances", meaning workers' payments are due, while the rest have exhausted 95 per cent of the funds released to them so far, according to the rural development ministry, which runs the Mahatma...

-The Indian Express The seeming revival over the last two quarters reverses the trend of declining employment under MGNREGA seen during the first year of the Modi government. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, the flagship welfare programme of the previous UPA government, appears to be staging a revival of sorts. And this turnaround is being attributed mainly to better monitoring by the Centre and timely release of funds. The July-September...

-The Times of India BIJNOR: Work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) has been stalled in Bijnor district for the past two months. This is being attributed to the panchayat polls which were underway in the district. Sources said it would take another month before work can commence again as data regarding village panchayats is yet to be fed into the system. This has led to a...