In the last five years, only 60% of MGNREGA work completed y Authorities fail to utilise funds allotted under the scheme. The state government has asked the Centre to increase the wages of the labourers engaged under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme, but the authorities in the state have failed to achieve the target fixed under this programme. Hardly 60 per cent of the work taken under this national flagship scheme have been completed during the last five years.

JAIPUR: Jay Naidoo, chair of the GAIN Board, South Africa said 60 million children in India are malnourished, which is higher than the total population of South Africa.

Naidoo was in the city at the launch of fortified wheat flour and fortified edible oil for sale in open market. He said, "Around 60% of India's total population is living below poverty line. These people are dependant on the government. So, government plays important role in the fight against malnutrition as it passes laws, regulations and policies. These people need high quality food rich in folic acid, iron and Vitamin A."

Non-Congress states have performed better in the MGNREGA corruption index. The Supreme Court has “officially” declared corruption in the 2G case. All licences stand cancelled. The 2G scam has been the most talked about corruption case in India. Land grabs and mining are the other two areas of widespread corporate and public (bureaucrat and politician) corruption.

In order to plug the pilferage of food items meant for distribution to people below the poverty line, the Supreme Court on Friday directed the Union food secretary to hasten the process of computerisation of entire PDS system.

A bench of Justices Dalveer Bhandari and Dipak Misra set a deadline of two months to put in place the computerisation process for the PDS in entire country while asking the food secretary to take up the matter with each state and then submit a report.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is selling its second Water Bond to Japanese investors to help finance its work in the water sector.

The Water Bond, denominated in Turkish lira, will be issued in February. ADB will provide assistance in an amount at least equal to the net proceeds of the bond to water-related projects in the region, such as new water supply systems in urban areas, major rehabilitation of existing irrigation systems, and investment in wastewater management.

To bring transparency in Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and redress complaints received from the people under the same scheme, the State Government has appointed a Lokpal in each district of the State. Speaking to The Pioneer, Dehradun Lokpal JR Lapar said that not a single complaint has been received in his office so far. He further said that he has written a letter to District Magistrate Dilip Jawalkar requesting him to create awareness about redressal of complaints at his office.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Thursday dwelt on corruption in the UPA’s flagship programme for aam aadmi , the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), an election issue in UP. Speaking at an NREGS function, the two leaders admitted that complaints relating to irregularities in the scheme could not be ignored.

Calling for increasing the wage rate under MGNREGA, the Minister for Development, Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Ali Mohammad Sagar today said that the same is necessary to bail out the State from the menace of unemployment and also to accelerate its implementation which would result accelerated development of rural areas.

Sixth anniversary of the implementation of the scheme

On the sixth anniversary of the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Guarantee Employment Scheme (MNREGS) there were protests outside the office of State Minister for Panchayat and Rural Development Subrata Mukherjee here on Thursday against the absence of work and delay in payment of wages under the scheme.