25% households in UP, 19% in Odisha, 17% in Bihar, MP didn't get NREGA job: Tracker

Counterview News
A National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) tracker by a civil society network, Peoples’ Action for Employment Guarantee (PAEG), has found that where was a surge in NREGA work demand during the pandemic, with the total job cards demand this year reaching 7.5 crore and the total active job cards 9.02 crore.
Yet, it complained, only 19 lakh households could finish 100 days of work as compared to 40.61 lakh last year, which suggests, despite the huge a surge in NREGA work demand due to the pandemic, the government failed to meet the rising demand.
Estimating that, across India, there was around 13% “unmet demand”, as over 97 lakh households’ demand for work could not be met at some point or the other, giving a breakup, the tracker said, “Almost one-fourth of the households in Uttar Pradesh that demanded NREGA work didn’t receive a single day’s work this year.”
It added, “Odisha, Bihar, and Madhya Pradesh which were among the states with the highest number of return of migrants during the lockdown, showed an unmet demand of 19%, 17% and 17% respectively.”
On the whole, the tracker said, over 252 crore persondays for NREGA work was generated till November this year, suggesting an increase of 43% compared to the previous year. However, a further analysis suggested funds shortage is a major reason why there was unmet demand.

Thus, it said, over 71% of the total allocated funds for NREGA had already been utilised till November, and another 9.1% had been set aside for pending payments. But with a little more than 100 days still left in the financial year, and likelihood of a high persondays generation in the last four months of the current financial, “NREGA will require another financial boost”, it insisted.
According to the tracker, “The amount allocated to the NREGA this financial year is Rs 1,05,000 crore. The expenditure incurred is Rs. 74,563 core (71%), and pending payments (which includes pending wage payments and pending material payments) is Rs 9,590 crore (9.1%). This leaves Rs 20,847 crore to generate fresh employment, which is a mere 19.8% of the allocation.”

New UPF study strengthens case for statutory controls on junk food advertising

Counterview News A randomized controlled trial published in the journal Nature Metabolism has found that ultra-processed foods (UPFs) trigger metabolic and neural responses distinct from minimally processed foods—even when the two meals are nutritionally identical. The study provides direct experimental evidence that food processing itself influences health through mechanisms beyond calories and macronutrients alone.

Kamal Mitra Chenoy, scholar and student activist who never stopped being both

By Harsh Thakor* Professor Kamal Mitra Chenoy, who taught comparative politics and the Indian Constitution at the School of International Studies (SIS), Jawaharlal Nehru University, died on October 11. He was 75. A political scientist and public intellectual, he was known for his work on international relations, peace and conflict resolution, human rights and democratic values, and for his solidarity with students.

From air pollution to nuclear war: Capitalism's seventeen deadly outputs

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak* The Lancet Commission's report on "21st Century Global Threats to Health" identifies seventeen interconnected crises threatening life on Earth: air pollution, antimicrobial resistance, childhood malnutrition, the collapse of development and health assistance, conventional conflicts, high alcohol use, high blood pressure, income inequality, low educational attainment, the malicious use of AI, nuclear conflict, obesity, pandemics, poor mental health, smoking, and unhealthy aging.

Counterview

Search This Blog