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.

Biofuels can boost incomes and yields for farmers, revitalising impoverished rural areas when they are introduced in countries with secure land ownership, the International Institute for Environment and Development said. By raising the price of crops such as corn and palm oil, biofuels can reduce poverty in countries with a high dependency on agriculture, the London-based researcher said in a report with the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organisation.

KOLKATA : Poor crop productivity and low farm efficiency, owing to financial constraints and other reasons, is a major cause for low self-belief, and high prevalence of depression among the state's farmers. In a study conducted among farmers residing in Dumajoli village in Bhangar area of South 24-Parganas, it was found that more than 46 per cent of farmers lack self-efficacy, as they are not able to take up multiple cropping owing to financial constraints.

A serialised initiative has been undertaken by District Poverty Initiative Programme (DPIP) for making employment available to rural youths. Under this scheme, serialised Job Fairs are being organised in the districts covered under DPIP. Large number of rural youths have secured employment through these Job Fairs. The Job Fairs organised in DPIP jurisdiction districts Rewa, Chhatarpur and Raisen were attended by lakhs of jobless rural youths. In the same series, Job Fairs are also going to be organised in Shajapur, Sidhi, Sagar and Tikamgarh districts.

Land alienation, poverty amongst scheduled tribes and dalits and lack of access to basic forest resources have contributed to the growth of naxalism, says the Planning Commission. Its report,

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It is heartening to hear that the Government plans to extend the relief in the form of loan waiver to all the farmers in the country. But one may ask: Why farmers only? Why not other sections of society, some of whom are suffering as much or even more. If the Government does not look into their interests as well, it may win the favour of only one section of society. For example, consider the plight of parents who have taken educational loans for higher studies of their children.

Suicide by over 17,000 farmers in 2006, the latest year for which systematic official data are available, is a huge national tragedy. In fact, the trends revealed by the National Crime Records Buresu (NCRB) on farmers' suicides are appalling. While there have been ups and downs in the annual figure, there has been no let up in the trend since 2001. The figure for 1997, in itself disturbing, was approximately 14,000. From 2002, there has been no year in which fewer than 17,000 farmers' suicides have been recorded. The 2006 figure confirms the trend.

Over 5000 labourers owing allegiance to CPM Kalgachia and Titapani local committees staged a stir on May 15 last on the premises of Rupsoi development block, Kalgachia under Barpeta district protesting against alleged corruption and anomalies by the concerned officers and employees in accomplice with a section of brokers in the name of implementing the NREGA schemes in the block area.