That the Modi government would actually dismantle the architecture of one of the UPA era’s most significant rural welfare programmes, and remove MK Gandhi’s name, took the Opposition by surprise.
The claim that VB-GRAMG provides an employment guarantee is incorrect. The only guarantee is to 'empower' the Centre to allow partial implementation in notified areas alone.
MGNREGA empowered citizens to engage the state on equal terms. VB-GRAMG recasts them as labharthis, who must prove eligibility to receive the largesse of a benevolent leader.
Opposition parties are fixated on the argument that the government has deliberately removed MK Gandhi’s name from the Act. The real provisions in the Bill are barely being discussed.
MGNREGA’s core strength was: if you needed work, you got work. VB-GRAMG’s funding model means work will only be available if a state has the budget and the Centre has approved the allocation.
Pinarayi Vijayan once called Vellappally Natesan, the general secretary of SNDP Yogam, Kerala’s Pravin Togadia. Now he is giving his hate speech a free pass.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham says bill will be 'well-timed, as Ukraine is making concessions for peace and Putin is all talk, continuing to kill the innocent'.
Islamabad-based think-tank PICSS's new report says Pakistan saw 'pronounced escalation' in violence last year, with 3,413 conflict-related deaths compared to 1,950 in previous year.
Many of you might think I got something so wrong in National Interest pieces written this year. I might disagree! But some deserve a Mea Culpa. I’d deal with the most recent this week.
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