Right to Food Campaign: Employment Guarantee Act

Note: The Employment Guarantee Act has been widely welcomed by political parties, social movements and ordinary people. However, there is also a small but prolific "anti-EGA" lobby, with a particularly strong influence in the corporate media. Writings from both sides are included here in the interest of pluralism; we leave it to the readers to evaluate the arguments on each side.

December 2009[top]

No guarantees for work in Melghat (Meena Menon, The Hindu, 21 December 2009) [9 January]
The System strikes back (Vidya Subrahmaniam, The Hindu, 17 December 2009) [18 December]
Violence and threats bring a government to its knees (Vidya Subrahmaniam, The Hindu, 16 December 2009) [18 December]

October 2009[top]

Programming NREGS to succeed (Pramathesh Ambasta, The Hindu, 31 October 2009) [7 November]
Women workers and the Perceptions of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (Reetika Khera and Nandini Nayak) [1 November]
Social and Political dividends from NREGA (Vidya Subrahmaniam , The Hindu, 19 October 2009) [24 October]
NREGA audit: Bhilwara Shows the way (Vidya Subrahmaniam , The Hindu, 17 October 2009) [22 October]
A tool of empowerment only enables more exploitation (Kathyayini Chamraj , infochangeindia.org, October 2009) [10 October]

September 2009[top]

NREGS: not caste in stone (P. Sainath, The Hindu, 14/9/2009) [23 September]
Rozgar ki Jung (Hindi) (Reetika Khera) [21 September]
Where NREGA is a failure (Mahim Pratap Singh, The Hindu, 6 September 2009) [21 September]
Rejigging NREGA, the wrong way (Brinda Karat, The Indian Express, 3 September 2009) [9 September]

August 2009 [top]

They don't see a drought (Richard Mahapatra, The Financial Express, 17 August 2009) [21 September]
Entitlements under NREGA violated (Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprashasta, Frontline, Volume 26; Isuue 16; August 01-14 2009) [9 September]
Dalits, the Poor and the NREGA (Nikhil Dey and Aruna Roy, The Hindu, 27 August 2009) [9 September]
Draft Bibliography on NREGA [27 August]
Find the side effects (Ila Patnaik, Indian Express, 10 August 2009) [22 August]
Taking Goals of NREGA-I forward (Mihir Shah, The Hindu, 14 August 2009) [18 August]

July 2009 [top]

The Unfinished Agenda (Udit Misra, Forbes India, 20 July 2009) [15 July]
NREGA is a Promise Half-kept (Shankar Raghuraman, The Times of India, 12 July 2009)
Bharat at Work (Sukumar Mahato, The Times of India, 12 July 2009)
Act fair, Give Rural Workers their Due (Jean Drèze, The Times of India, 12 July 2009)

May 2009 [top]

Multiplier accelerator synergy in NREGA (Mihir Shah, The Hindu, 30 April 2009) [3 May]

April 2009 [top]

The Wages of Protest (Arundhati Dhuru and Sandeep Pandey, The Hindu, 5 April 2009) [6 April]

March 2009 [top]

Operational Framework of NREGA needs overhaul (Jean Drèze, The Times of India, 30 March 2009) [31 March]
NREGS: A Farce at Latehar (Pradeep Bhargava, India Together, 24 March 2009) [31 March]
Broken Promises (Ashish Ranjan, Tehelka Magazine, Vol 6, Issue 10, 14 March 2009) [31 March]

February 2009 [top]

How safe are NREGS wage payments through banks and post offices? (Pradeep Baisakh, Infochange News and Features, February 2009) [27 February]
Countering the Meltdown: Urban Employment Guarantee (Transparency Review, Volume II No. 1, January-February 2009) [27 February]
Lok Adalat or Joke Adalat? (Jean Drèze and Reetika Khera, The Hindu, 22 February 2009) [25 February]
Work in Progress (Jean Drèze and Christian Oldiges, Frontline(Volume 26 - Issue 4), 14-27 February 2008) [25 February]
Why the NREGA should not rely on banks (Anirban Kar, Business Standard, 02 February 2008) [25 February]

January 2009 [top]

The Battle for Employment Guarantee (Jean Drèze and Reetika Khera, Frontline(Volume 26 - Issue 1), 3-16 January 2008) [12 January]
Alternative to Migration (Kartika Bhatia and Ashish Ranjan, Frontline(Volume 26 - Issue 1), 3-16 January 2008) [12 January]
What Works Against Women (Reetika Khera and Nandini Nayak, Frontline(Volume 26 - Issue 1), 3-16 January 2008) [12 January]
Banned but still there (Jean Drèze and Reetika Khera, Frontline(Volume 26 - Issue 1), 3-16 January 2008) [12 January]
All is not well with the Wells (Kamayani Swami, Frontline(Volume 26 - Issue 1), 3-16 January 2008) [12 January]
Accounts of Corruption (Anish Vanaik, Frontline(Volume 26 - Issue 1), 3-16 January 2008) [12 January]
Pati Experience (Reetika Khera, Frontline(Volume 26 - Issue 1), 3-16 January 2008) [12 January]
Rajasthan way ahead (Reetika Khera and Anish Vanaik, Frontline(Volume 26 - Issue 1), 3-16 January 2008) [12 January]
A Scene from the South (Karuna Muthiah, Frontline Volume 26 - Issue 1, 3-16 January 2008) [12 January]

December 2008 [top]

From Accounts to Accountability (Jean Drèze a Reetika Khera, 6 December 2008) [15 December]

October 2008 [top]

Poverty, Migration and National Employment Guarantee Scheme (Sachin Kumar Jain, 2008) [30 November]
Employment Guarantee and Women's Empowerment in Rural India (Navjyoti Jandu, October 2008) [8 October]

September 2008 [top]

NREGA: Andhra Pradesh shows the way (Mihir Shah & Prametheah Ambasta, The Hindu, 8 September 2008) [1 December]
Songs of Hope (Nandini Nayak, The Hindu, 14 September 2008) [30 November]
Poverty, Migration and National Employment Guarantee Scheme (Sachin Kumar Jain, 2008) [30 November]

August 2008 [top]

Q&A: 'Public action powerful guarantee for social security' (Amrith Lal, The Times of India, 29 August 2008) [2 June]
Empowerment Guarantee Act (Reetika Khera, Economic and Political Weekly, 30 August 2008) [21 September]

July 2008 [top]

NREGA and the death of Tapas Soren (Anish Vanaik, Economic and Political Weekly, 30 July 2008) [21 September]
M.P. Government's tall claims on jobs scheme challenged (Staff Correspondent, The Hindu, 19 July, 2008) [2 June]
Employment Scheme checking Migration (Special Correspondent, The Hindu, 20 July, 2008) [2 June]
NREGA: ship without rudder? (Jean Drèze, The Hindu, 19 July, 2008) [22 July]
NREGA: A Fine Balance (P. Sainath, India Together, 13 July, 2008) [1 December]

June 2008 [top]

More is not enough (Sebastian PT, Outlook Business, 28 June 2008)
Attacking the right to ask (Aruna Roy and Nikhil Dey, Indian Express, 14 June 2008)

May 2008 [top]

From the Bottom Up (Yogi Aggarwal, Business India, 18 May 2008) [10 September]

April 2008 [top]

India's Rural Employment Scheme (The Economist (Print Edition), 24 April 2008) [2 June]
Not much of a guarantee (Kaushik Basu, The Hindustan Times, 12 April 2008) [25 July]
India's jobs plan goes nationwide (Mian Ridge, Christian Science Monitor, 8 April 2008) [8 August]

March 2008 [top]

Falling through the cracks (Kiran Bhatty, The Hindu, 16 March, 2008) [15 August]
Governance reform key to NREGA success (Mihir Shah, The Hindu, 14 March 2008)
Nothing Ventured, Nothing learnt (C. P. Bhambhri, india-seminar.com, March 2008) [2 June]
Employment Guarantee, Women's Work and Child Care (Sudha Narayanan, 1 March 2008) [2 June]

February 2008[top]

In Orissa, NREGA is still a ray of hope (Pradeep Baisakh, India Together, 2 February 2008) [2 June]
Two years of NREGA: The Road Ahead (Pramathesh Ambasta, P S Vijay Shankar and Mihir Shah, Economic and Political Weekly, 23 February 2008) [15 December]
Corruption guaranteed (Bibhuti Pati, Tehelka.com, 8 February 2008) [4 August]

January 2008 [top]

Lifeline for the rural poor (Hindu, 25 January 2008)
Shivnath Thukral, My Budget Wish! (NDTV Profit, 24 January 2008)
Jean Dr ze, Employment guarantee: beyond propaganda (Hindu, 11 January 2008)
Sowmya Kerbart Sivakumar, Triumph of transparency (Hindu, 6 January 2008)
S. B. Misra, Move beyond spadework (Hindustan Times, 2 January 2008)

December 2007