MGNREGA

Subject – Governance

Context – T.N. launches ₹100 cr. urban employment scheme. Like MGNREGS, it offers a livelihood for urban poor.

Concept –

MGNREGA is one of the largest work guarantee programmes in the world.
The primary objective of the scheme is to guarantee 100 days of employment in every financial year to adult members of any rural household willing to do public work-related unskilled manual work.
Legal Right to Work: Unlike earlier employment guarantee schemes, the act aims at addressing the causes of chronic poverty through a rights-based framework.
At least one-third of beneficiaries have to be women.
Wages must be paid according to the statutory minimum wages specified for agricultural labourers in the state under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948.
Demand-Driven Scheme: The most important part of MGNREGA’s design is its legally-backed guarantee for any rural adult to get work within 15 days of demanding it, failing which an ‘unemployment allowance’ must be given.
Decentralised planning: There is an emphasis on strengthening the process of decentralisation by giving a significant role in Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) in planning and implementing these works.
The act mandates Gram sabhas to recommend the works that are to be undertaken and at least 50% of the works must be executed by them.

Bhuvan Portal

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)and MapmyIndia have partnered to come up with an indigenious geospatial portal known as ‘Bhuvan’.
It is a type of web portal used to find and access geographic information (geospatial information) and associated geographic services (display, editing, analysis, etc.) via the Internet.
MapmyIndia’s database will be connected with ISRO’s high-end satellite catalogue and earth observation data, which it generates through a constellation of its satellites.