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 …
Before 2008, there were two standards for poverty-relief projects in China. In 1986, the absolute poverty line was set at income of 206 yuan ($32.70) per annum. The level was raised to 785 yuan in 2007. The same year saw the annual net income standard of 865 yuan, originally set …
New Delhi, 18 MAY: Finding faults with the MGNREGA scheme, a Parliamentary Panel has said that there was confusion over its definition of the term 'households' which was being twisted to suit male heads of families which should be corrected. In its report, the Committee on empowerment of Women in …
More than 6.7 million families across Pakistan are living in extreme poverty, Benazir Income Support Program (BISP) estimated. The social safety net project has identified. The government has also decided to extend full BISP package (including cash grants and other programme such as Waseela-e-Haq, Waseela-e-Rozgar, Waseela-e-Sehat and Waseela-e-Taleem) to families …
Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh has rejected the food ministry’s suggestion that 25 per cent of wages under the rural employment guarantee programme be paid in foodgrains. Food minister K V Thomas had written to Ramesh early April, suggesting that part of the wages under the Mahatma Gandhi National …
Mumbai: An ambitious plan of the Maharashtra government to undertake a tree plantation drive involving 100 crore new saplings will fall short of its target this year. Due to technical difficulties, the state government has revised its target from the 100 crore to 30 crore for this year. The balance …
The rural development minister. Mr Jairam Ramesh, today tabled the ‘MNREGA 2.0’ ~ the second generation reforms for the rural job scheme ~ in both Houses of Parliament. However, the rural development ministry now seems to be heading for a “cold war” with the finance minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, who …
The government on Tuesday informed the Lok Sabha about the expansion of the scope of activities permitted under the rural job guarantee scheme by including 30 new activities. These will supplement agricultural and animal husbandry operations along with flood management and sanitation-related works in rural India. According to the copy …
New Delhi: Union govt has ranked the sikkim state as best state in the country in the category of smaller states for its outstanding performance in strengthening and developing the panchayati raj institutions in the state Union Rural Development Minister Sh Jai Ram Ramesh and Union Minister of Panchayati Raj …
LUCKNOW: The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on Monday stayed the arrest of a block pramukh from Gonda, charged under Gangster Act in connection with MNREGS scam in the district. A division bench of Justice Abdul Mateen and Justice SK Saxena said that block pramukh shall not be …
Notwithstanding the marginal decline in spendings under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) over the past two years, Himachal has the best performance indicators, putting it in the league of top-performing states. The total expenditure under the scheme came down from Rs 556.55 crore in 2009-10 to …
MGNREGA can only succeed if politics is taken seriously in the design of accountability mechanisms. Does political competition enhance a poor person’s access to anti-poverty initiatives such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA)? Just as some economists believe that competition is an effective way to improve …
Karnataka will implement modified National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) in 20 taluks in five districts. NRLM is a poverty-alleviating scheme formulated by the Union Government. The state government has renamed it as ‘Sanjeevini'. “Karnataka has tweaked the mission to include social, financial and economic inclusion while rolling out the scheme …
The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) has launched a dedicated ‘Ajeevika” cell to help alleviating poverty in rural hinterlands. The cell aims at enabling women get better access to financial resources at affordable rates and facilitate establishment of sustainable livelihoods. A dedicated team of officials from Nabard …
Admitting that MNREGA has its share of corruption and irregularities, Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh said on Sunday guidelines for the revamped version of the Centre’s flagship rural development programme would be in place by May-end. The minister said 30 new activities had been added in MNREGA-2, of which 27 …
In what could be the first major signal of waning popularity of the UPA government’s flagship rural job scheme NREGS, data compiled by the Rural Development Ministry show that the number of households seeking employment under the scheme witnessed a drastic decline in 2011-12 fiscal as compared to the previous …
Sri Lanka government says that the Samurdhi poverty allowance increased under the 2012 budget will be granted to the recipients from the first of this month. Under the new payment scheme the money will be directly deposited to the account of the Samurdhi recipients instead of granting allowance stamps to …
A new study by the Agriculture Department has found that food stamps, one of the country’s largest social safety net programs, reduced the poverty rate substantially during the recent recession. The food stamp program, formally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, reduced the poverty rate by nearly …
The Centre is keen to resolve differences with rights activists over the remuneration under its flagship rural job guarantee scheme, which can potentially save it from paying . 7,000 crore in arrears to states that have higher minimum wages. Wages under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) …
In a first in the entire northeastern region, the NREGS workers in Meghalaya are going to get their pay through biometric smart cards. The scheme, involving Axis Bank, has been launched on a pilot basis on March 22 under the aegis of the Reserve Bank of India. RBI officials said …
Bhubaneswar: Alleging large scale irregularities in the implementation of the Centre’s flagship programme, Mahatama Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in the state, the Opposition on Wednesday demanded that the Odisha government should extend the ongoing CBI probe to all the remaining 26 districts. However, rejecting the Opposition allegation, …
