JAIPUR: Rajasthan Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister Kalulal Gujjar on Thursday claimed that the Centre had given "top ranking' to the State in implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. The Centre has reportedly given 82.86 marks on a scale of 100 to Rajasthan in an inter-State ranking exercise.

The United Progressive Alliance Government at the Centre, which is left with less than a year in office before seeking a fresh mandate of the people, ought to draw three main conclusions from the Bhartiya Janata Party's first-ever victory in a state in the southern peninsula, which has jolted the Congress more than the others. The first is that disunity among progressive and secular forces has created enough space for religious parties to flourish and govern half-a-dozen major states.

The district authorities today decided to launch a special campaign to issue job cards to villagers under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS). The authorities have also announced that work on 30 projects will begin in 30 of the 240 villages in the district on June 10. The Tribune had carried a story - "Employment Guarantee Scheme: Getting job cards not easy for villagers' in these columns today. The Tribune had highlighted the problems being faced by villagers in the district, where of the 25,000-odd aspirants, only 1,677 had been able to get job cards.

After anomalies in issue of job cards and payments to beneficiaries, it is now money spent on photographs taken for physical verification of works done under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) that is under the scanner in Uttar Pradesh. Reports received at the Department of Rural Development show that some districts in the state have spent more than Rs 1 lakh each on photography in the last financial year. With this far above the estimates by officials, the payments have not been made so far and the matter is being looked into.

Owing to ignorance on the part of poor villagers and lack of interest being shown by nationalised and cooperative banks, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) is facing a rough weather in the district despite more than two months of its implementation on paper. Of the 25,000-odd poor families who have shown interest in getting employment under this scheme and actually procured application forms from the authorities, only 1,677 have so far been able to get job cards, which are a prerequisite for demanding job under the scheme.

Two months down the line and Goan unemployed youths may still be waiting for a guaranteed job under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. But, introduced in April last, the Rural Development Agencies of both North and South districts are putting in place the logistics required to ensure the scheme takes off without much difficulty.

It's little after 8.oo in the morning as we (BT photographer Debashish Paul and i) drive down the bumpy roads (that often degenerate into dirt tracks) bisecting picturesque tea gardens. We get the whiff of tea leaves (the most crucial second flush

Water crisis in Maharashtra is the making of the state's faulty strategy and misguided policies. A recent report, Combating drought in Maharashtra, explains how by critically analyzing Maharashtra's