India's government is close to passing a bill that will guarantee jobs for millions of rural poor, though some feel that the broad welfare program is too expensive. The jobs bill promises rural workers a minimum wage of around $1.40 a day for work on development projects, such as building roads, planting trees or digging irrigation canals. The government says it will pay the same amount in welfare to any of the workers who can't find employment.
See "India Moves Toward Guaranteed Jobs Program for Rural Poor", Paul Watson, Los Angeles Times, August 24, 2005