MGNREGA budget cut sends wrong signal, goes against Odisha’s successful policy experiment

Collaborative MGNREGA implementation in Odisha improved livelihoods; such efforts will be discouraged by budget cut

MGNREGA: Workers across 13 states protest to demand unpaid wages

Around Rs 2,800 crore are pending in wages from the Centre under MGNREGA for this financial year and around Rs 1,984 crore are pending from the …

Central funds freeze: MGNREGA workers in West Bengal trapped in vicious cycle of illness and poverty

Workers struggling to make ends meet, have had to put new and existing health issues aside    

Mandatory digital attendance for MGNREGS will destroy it, activists warn

Lack of access to technology will discourage workers, drive them to work for cheaper wages outside of scheme

MGNREGA: Workers call for scrapping of attendance scheme at Jantar Mantar protest 

The NREGA Sangharsh Morcha alleged that the claims of government about smooth functioning of the scheme were false and misleading  

Just 3% of MNREGA job seekers received unemployment allowance, shows central panel report

Department of Rural Development replies will look into the issue, state government’s responsibility to pay interest accrued on unpaid …

Filling public employment vacancies & regularising all workers, especially women, should be new government’s priority

In the longer term, MGNREGA must be allowed to recover; an urban version must be formulated & micro, small and medium enterprises must …

No, economic recovery has not brought about a drop in MGNREGA job demand: Experts

Delayed wages due to a lack of funds has eroded the confidence of job seekers in MGNREGA; This has driven down demand for work under the scheme …

Unpaid for months, MGNREGA workers protest in national capital

3-day demonstation by workers from across the country; Demand for more funds allocation to employment programme

India’s poverty: There is no end to Surjit Bhalla’s imagination

The IMF executive director has just declared that India was nearly free of extreme poverty in 2020 and inequality was lowest in 40 years due to …

As told to Parliament (December 22, 2021): Over 150 million households have jobs cards under MGNREGA

All that was discussed in the House through the day  

Yes, India needs agrarian reform, but that which is pro-people, not pro-corporate

Here are the steps that central and state governments can take to adopt a pro-people and nature-friendly economic development model for Indian …

Rural unemployment in central India: Why Adivasi communities are worst-hit

The focus of MGNREGA has to be re-shifted to employment generation from asset building

Rural distress: Demand for MGNREGA work sees spike again

This points to rural distress despite absence of COVID-19 restrictions on economic activities for past few months   

A monumental waste: Crores spent on water-related works haven’t readied Jharkhand for droughts; here’s why

Poor planning of water conservation and water harvesting structures is a major reason

Culture of random, centralised monitoring is killing the spirit of MGNREGA

We do not need systems that alienate people from work and give further control to bureaucracy and frontline functionaries who are responsible for …

Drying up of MGNREGA allocation will shrink the rural economy further

The focus of MGNREGA has, over time, shifted from employment creation to asset creation 

A job not done

As multiple states launch urban employment guarantee schemes, the need for a Central Act similar to MGNREGA becomes stronger

MGNREGS: Difficulty in finding work, delayed wages add to women workers’ woes

The employment scheme worked as a lifeline for rural Indian households during the COVID-19 pandemic

From job card holders to migrants: Former MGNREGS workers in West Bengal lament loss of identity and dignity

Workers now falling back into trap of migration with no fixed jobs, income 

Standing Committee urges Centre to revise MGNREGS wages, budget

In most of the concerns raised, the committee found replies from the Centre unsatisfactory

Amrit kaal for adivasis? Union Budget 2023-24 weakens safety nets for tribals

Schemes for food security, child welfare, employment guarantee for tribals saw shrinking of funds

MGNREGA could also help India sequester carbon: Study

MGNREGA may have helped capture a total carbon of 102 million tonnes equivalent in 2017-18 through plantations and soil quality improvement works,…

Accountability is oxygen to civic life : How India could have managed COVID-19 better

Lessons from Right to Information and other welfare laws could have led to more transparent and smooth relief plans

Will MGNREGA help again? Rs 1,387 crore pending in wages

Migrant workers are returning to their home states again as COVID-19 pandemic lashes out brutally at several urban centres