Anti-Poverty Programmes

At a breaking point: The impact of foreign aid cuts on women's organizations in humanitarian crises worldwide

Women-led and women’s rights organizations are on the frontlines of today’s humanitarian crises—but many are at risk of disappearing. As global needs rise due to conflict, climate change, and displacement, deep cuts to foreign aid are threatening organizations that provide life-saving services for women and girls. In March 2025, UN …

The real scandal

Non-Congress states have performed better in the MGNREGA corruption index. The Supreme Court has “officially” declared corruption in the 2G case. All licences stand cancelled. The 2G scam has been the most talked about corruption case in India. Land grabs and mining are the other two areas of widespread corporate …

State way short of meeting national rural job target

In the last five years, only 60% of MGNREGA work completed y Authorities fail to utilise funds allotted under the scheme. The state government has asked the Centre to increase the wages of the labourers engaged under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme, but the authorities in …

PM, Sonia target graft in NREGS

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Thursday dwelt on corruption in the UPA’s flagship programme for aam aadmi , the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), an election issue in UP. Speaking at an NREGS function, the two leaders admitted that complaints relating to irregularities in …

For transparent conduct of NREG, Uttarakhand Govt appoints Lokpal

To bring transparency in Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and redress complaints received from the people under the same scheme, the State Government has appointed a Lokpal in each district of the State. Speaking to The Pioneer, Dehradun Lokpal JR Lapar said that not a single complaint has …

Farmers’ unions call strike against Mamata govt

The peasants’ organisations of the four Left parties in West Bengal have called the Mamata Banerjee government “insensitive” to the plight of farmers and have decided to mobilise them to launch a campaign. The state government is already under fire from the farmers’ community for failing to procure paddy at …

NREGS wages: Jharkhand banks on Adhaar, micro ATMs

For the first time, 500 NREGS workers have drawn their wages in January utilising the UIDAI Adhaar, a micro ATM, and biometric data. The pilot project, to ensure transparency and timely disbursal of wages, has been welcomed by villages. Launched simultaneously at Meru in Hazaribagh and Ratu in Ranchi on …

SC asks Centre to raise NREGA wage

The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Centre if it was willing to consider opening its purse strings to pay higher wages to agricultural labourers employed under its flagship job guarantee scheme Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA). The thought got provoked after the Karnataka High Court on …

Rahul blows MNREGS trumpet in Bundelkhand

JHANSI: Blaming the past governments for the current plight of Bundelkhand region, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday alleged state minister and senior BSP leader Nassemuddin Siddiqui had given the tractors to his sons, which were meant for farmers and sent by the Centre. Addressing a public meeting at …

Shakti for MNREGS workers

E-Shakti project in Bihar through its biometric attendance and wage disbursement at worksite has empowered workers.

A saga of three villages in Andhra Pradesh

A study of the socio-economic situations of three villages in north-eastern Andhra Pradesh shows that while times and values have vastly changed, not much has been transformed in terms of privileges and opportunities. Those belonging to landowning families have managed to get a good education and secure good jobs or …

Burdwan’s MGNREGA performance goes down

DURGAPUR, 2 JAN: The Burdwan District Vigilance Monitoring Committee, in its first meeting today, found out that the district's performance in the MGNREGA has gone down from the previous year. "This may lead to return of allotted fund," said Mr Mukul Roy, a Rajya Sabha MP and Union minister of …

Impact assessment of NREGS in selected districts of Himachal, Punjab and Haryana

Under the Professional Institutional Networking (PIN) of Ministry of Rural Development, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) sanctioned the Impact Assessment study in three districts namely Sirsa in Haryana, Sirmaur in Himachal Pradesh and Hoshiarpur in Punjab. NREGS was started in the first phase in these selected districts.

Unpacking green growth — Greener isn’t necessarily slower, just more e†fficient

Marianne Fay, chief economist for the World Bank Sustainable Development Network, led a study on green growth, defined as growth that is effi’cient, clean, and resilient: e’cient in its use of natural resources, clean in minimizing pollution and environmental impacts, and resilient in fully accounting for natural hazards. Here, Environment …

NREGA: Jairam rejects Pawar claim, says no impact on farms

Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh has rejected Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar’s suggestion on modifying MGNREGA’s guidelines, saying it has not impacted the availability of workers for the farm sector. Ramesh has told Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that on the contrary it has led to major increase in farm wages and …

Jairam gives in on NREGS wages

Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh is learnt to have reluctantly agreed to file an appeal against a Karnataka High Court verdict in September that NREGS wages cannot be fixed lower than what is prescribed under the Minimum Wages Act. For over a month, Ramesh was opposed to the idea of …

NREGA wages vs minimum wages: PM vs Jairam

With less than a week left, the UPA government seems to be split on the issue of appealing against the Karnataka High Court’s order stating that wages under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act have to be fixed as per Minimum Wages Act. The Special Leave Petition challenging …

Forests for people

Newly democratic Bhutan pushes community forestry to tackle rural poverty. Read More : http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/forests-people

Farms hit, freeze NREG for 3 months/yr: Pawar to PM

In the first high-level red-flag against the UPA government’s flagship Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA), Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has told Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that while assets created under the NREGA “may or may not have productive use”, the programme was “adversely” impacting the agriculture sector …

A million opportunities lost

The ruling alliance’s flagship rural employment programme took unprecedented strides in creating water conservation structures across the country, but only to harvest disillusionment. What went wrong? Down to Earth team traveled to Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan in search of answers. This is the little known big story …

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