The Centre on Tuesday unveiled the expanded version of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, allowing over 30 new permissible works, as productivity-enhancing activity. The gram panchayats alone have been empowered to decide on the priority of work to be taken up.

Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh, who tabled in Parliament a copy of the new notification, and Planning Commission member Mihir Shah told reporters that the purpose was to give supremacy to meet the exigencies of the States, and the livelihood needs of the people in the rural areas.

New Delhi Rural development minister Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday reiterated his opposition to the food ministry’s proposal for providing grain as part-payment of wages under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA).

“The work carried out under the food-for-work programme was really of bad quality and we do not want to repeat the same mistake,” Ramesh said after getting Parliament nod for the changes in NREGA, which allows atleast 30 new works to be taken up under the mega job-guarantee scheme.

even years after unveiling the rural job guarantee scheme, the Centre on Tuesday announced a major extension of scope of works under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) in a bid to revive demand for jobs, which witnessed over 20 per cent dip in the last financial year.

Union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday tabled the “MNREGA 2.0 — the second generation reforms” for the flag scheme in both Houses of Parliament

The Union Minister for Rural Development, Mr Jairam Ramesh, on Saturday said the Centre would grant Rs 4,000 crore for two metal road projects in West Bengal.

The State Level Evaluation Committee (SLEC) constituted by the government to inspect schemes taken up under the Prime Minister’s Reconstruction Project (PMRP) has found many loopholes in utilisatio

Rural development ministry ropes in Bollywood actor Vidya Balan to promote the use of toilets. Total sanitation, the official term for ending open defecation in the country, is not remotely close to either total or sanitation, show census data.

The figures supplied by state governments on the website of the Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) run by the Union Ministry for Rural Development have been exposed as false to a rather overwhelming degree. While the TSC data have 68 per cent sanitation for the country as a whole, the census found just 32.7 per cent of the country was so covered. Open defecation was the practice elsewhere.

The UPA’s flagship Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme (MGNREGA) appears to be losing its sheen, as the Centre could release about `29,190 crores against the budgetary allocation of `40,000 crores during the just-concluded financial year, showing a dip of more than 25 per cent. Even in the job demands under the flagship scheme, the data suggest more than 20 per cent decline.

The Ministry of Rural Development has rejected the demand of a parliamentary standing committee to include the works of artisans, weavers and leather workers in the list of permissible works under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.

The Central Employment Guarantee Council, constituted under the legislation establishing the rural jobs scheme to oversee it, had earlier turned down this recommendation of the standing committee on urban and rural development.

Dumka, April 29: Union minister for rural development Jairam Ramesh today frowned upon the state government and demanded greater reliability on the question of funds use after enduring a bumpy ride

NEW DELHI, 29 APRIL: The Union rural development ministry has claimed that the West Bengal government has “not submitted a single project” under the integrated watershed programme in the last three