Budget allocations for rural employment schemes have steadily decreased ever since the government introduced the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (NREGP), one of the government's flagship programmes to benefit the common man, in 2006-07. The declining trend of allocations for wage employment has been highlighted in data compiled by by N C Saxena, a member of the National Advisory Council, which advises the government on developmental issues, in a critique of social spending in the Budget. In 2005-06

More than 50,000 people would benefit from the National Rural Employment Generation Scheme in East Godavari by March-end. Under this programme, works were carried out in 296 minor irrigation tanks in 29 mandals in the district. The district collector, Mr M. Subrahamanyam, carried out a review of the NREGS at the territorial development centre in Samarlakota on Monday. He asked officials to speed up the works in the remaining 148 irrigation tanks to meet the target fixed for NREGS. The collector also directed the designated Panchayat Raj and Indiramma programme engineers to observe all norms while taking up the works. Engineers should also carefully supervise completion of shutter repairs and strengthening of bunds, said Mr Subrahmanyam. The project director of District Water Management Agency, Mr R. Amarendra Kumar, and engineers of Panchayat Raj and NREGS participated.

The Union Government, which has launched several schemes for inclusive growth and tackling the rural-urban divide, seems to be dragging its feet in sanctioning rural development projects submitted by the State Government. The Centre has not cleared 21 rural projects estimated at nearly Rs. 200 crore, and now officials are of the view that the State is unlikely to get the projects sanctioned. Though the Department of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj submitted proposals for various projects two years ago under the Swarnajayanti Gram Swaraj Yojana (SGSY), the Centre is yet to clear them. Nine of the 21 projects are related to dairy activities in various districts (Rs. 79.58 crore), three to rural livelihood and employment opportunities (Rs. 44.23crore), two are aimed at providing better marketing infrastructure in villages (Rs. 14.35 rore) and two each to set up incubation centres (Rs. 25.57 crore), rehabilitation of Devadasis (Rs. 24.64 crore) and setting up of a "Kushal Gram', a marketing complex for SGSY beneficiaries of the District Rural Development Foundation and B.V.V. Sangha of Bagalkot (Rs. 4.67 crore). The department has submitted nine detailed project reports to promote dairy activities in Bangalore Rural and Bangalore Urban, Mandya, Bellary, Uttara Kannada, Hassan, Mysore, Chamarajanagar, Davangere and Belgaum districts. To implement these projects, Central assistance of Rs. 59.8 crore has been sought, while Rs. 19.78 crore is to be contributed by the district-level milk unions.

On February 29 when Finance Minister P. Chidambaram takes guard, his batting average is going to look almost Bradmanesque.

The verdant Polo jungles of Vijaynagar in north Gujarat's Sabarkantha district have a substantial population of tribals, but unlike many other tribal areas in the country that reel under poverty, ma