Jairam Ramesh has hit out at the UP CM saying it's fear of the NRGEA policy has led to the decision to divide the state. ...
08:55 AM, Feb 01, 2012
Allahabad: Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh on Friday slammed the Uttar Pradesh government for "large-scale irregularities" in implementation of the MNREGA scheme and failure to order an investigation despite repeated communications to Chief Minister Mayawati. "Thousands of crores of rupees have been given to Uttar Pradesh by the UPA government at the Centre in the past five years for MNREGA. There have been reports of large-scale irregularities in implementation...
06:38 PM, Jan 27, 2012
Kolkata: With the recent strain with ally Trinamool Congress fresh in mind, Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh on Wednesday said the Congress would respect "coalition dharma" in West Bengal, but would continue its 'legitimate' political activities without hurting any party. "We are part of a coalition. It involves following the coalition dharma ... We intend to respect the coalition. We will not do anything to hurt it. But this...
11:29 PM, Jan 25, 2012
New Delhi: The big divide between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Rural Development Minsiter Jairam Ramesh over the minimum wage level under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act or the NREGA is set to worsen, with the former favouring filing a Special Leave Petition (SLP) with the Supreme Court, challenging a Karnataka High Court judgment that says MNREGS wages cannot be less than the minimum wages notified by the states....
06:42 PM, Jan 22, 2012
New Delhi: UPA President Sonia Gandhi's pet project, the Food Security Bill, didn't get a cabinet nod on Tuesday. As the Industrial output is down, manufacturing is down and rupee consistently depreciating the government is attempting to put an extra burden of almost Rs 1 lakh crore on itself by bringing in the Food Security Bill. The bill was put up before the cabinet just a couple of months before...
06:30 AM, Dec 14, 2011
New Delhi: Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh, whose recent comments about his party's ties with Trinamool Congress created a flutter, on Thursday, appeared to do a volte face saying, there was never a lack of "bonhomie" between the Centre and West Bengal. "I don't think there is a lack of bonhomie. Bengal is facing a very serious financial crisis. The Centre is committed to the industrial development of Bengal, Uttar...
02:23 AM, Nov 25, 2011
Kolkata: A war is brewing between allies Congress and Trinamool over West Bengal politics. "Congress hasn't taken VRS from Bengal. We are a political party and not an NGO. We don't need advice from anyone," Union Rural Development minister Jairam Ramesh said while defending an anti Trinamool rally in Mamta's constituency. Congress leader Shukhendu Shekhar Roy said, "Jairam Ramesh doesn't know the political realities of the state. They need to...
09:22 PM, Nov 20, 2011
Kolkata: In the continuing war of words between Congress and Trinamool Congress, the two ruling allies in West Bengal, Union Rural Development minister Jairam Ramesh on Sunday defended his comment that Congress had not taken a VRS from the state and said it would continue to speak its mind on the state's affairs. "Congress is a political party and not an NGO. We have not taken (political) sanyas," Ramesh said...
07:49 PM, Nov 20, 2011
Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh has hit out at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee saying the Congress has not taken VRS from the state. This after the Chief Minister objected to an anti-TMC rally in her constituency. ...
02:02 PM, Nov 20, 2011
Lucknow: Hitting back at Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh over the MNREGA irregularities issue, UP Chief Minister Mayawati on Saturday asked if any other state was being "harassed" in a similar manner and whether such an environment was being created "deliberately". Questioning as to how so many shortcomings have surfaced all of a sudden, Mayawati said it was improper to give "baseless" information on the implementation of the scheme in...
02:55 PM, Nov 19, 2011
New Delhi: Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh has written another letter to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati demanding a probe into the misuse of MNREGA funds. Jairam has demanded that the misuse of the fund be probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). In a 15-page letter, the rural development minister has given a blow-by-blow account of the MNREGA fund misuse in every district of the state. The second...
09:21 AM, Nov 17, 2011
New Delhi: Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh said on Tuesday the central government would consult the Supreme Court on setting up special courts under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS) to punish those found guilty of misusing funds meant for the rural poor. The move comes against the backdrop of reports of embezzlement and corruption in the ambitious rural job guarantee scheme. The minister said that Andhra...
04:22 AM, Nov 09, 2011
New Delhi: Sushil Kumar, the Rs 5 crore Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) jackpot winner, has agreed to be the brand ambassador for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA). Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh had written to Sushil Kumar congratulating him on his win. Ramesh had expressed his hope that Sushil Kumar, a data operator with NREGA, will keep contributing to the rural jobs scheme. Kumar had said...
04:21 PM, Nov 07, 2011
New Delhi: Taking Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh's 'rural development programmes can defeat Naxalism' theory to the next level, the ministry has decided to develop village playgrounds in the 'Naxal-hit districts' in the country to 'save the kids from the clutches of the Naxalites'. Jairam had earlier said, 'If the rural works are taken up properly, we will be successful in dealing with Naxalism in the next five or six...
10:20 AM, Nov 05, 2011
New Delhi: India ranks a low 134 among 187 countries in terms of the human development index (HDI), which assesses long-term progress in health, education and income indicators. According to a UN report released on Wednesday, although placed in the "medium" category, India's standing is way behind scores of economically less developed countries, including war-torn Iraq as well as the Philippines. India's ranking in 2010 was 119 out of 169...
04:55 PM, Nov 02, 2011
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