-The Hindu To bridge the gap in development between the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and non-SCs and STs, a coalition of more than 150 organisations is demanding a national law to prevent, once and for all, the diversion, non-release, non-implementation and lapsing of the Special Component Plans for SCs/STs. In response to the coalition's longstanding demands, the National Advisory Council's guidance and the letter Sonia Gandhi wrote to the Prime Minister...

-Live Mint Mani Shankar Aiyar, India's first panchyati raj minister, talks about the challenges the institutions face On Wednesday, India marked 20 years of panchayati raj, an exercise in devolving power to people at the grassroots. Rajya Sabha memberMani Shankar Aiyar was India's first panchyati raj minister, appointed to the newly created ministry in 2004. He headed a committee that examined the reasons why attempts at sharing power with self-governance units haven't...

-Live Mint   Panchayati raj minister V. Kishore Chandra Deo on how the system can function more effectively With the amendments that effected mandatory constitutional powers to panchayats and urban local bodies marking 20 years, V. Kishore Chandra Deo, Union minister for panchayati raj, acknowledged in an interview that the units of local self-governance could function more effectively. He also suggested that the three-tier system of panchayats could be improved to meet challenges...

-The Hindustan Times Chandigarh: Expressing disappointment on the vulgar songs being sung by Punjabi rapper(singer) Honey Singh, also known as Yo Yo Honey Singh, the Punjab and Haryana high court has summoned him to the court personally on May 14 for explanation. The directions came from the division bench comprising acting chief justice Jasbir Singh and justice Rakesh Kumar Jain on a public interest litigation filed by a non-governmental organisation, HELP...

-New Indian Express Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday said nearly three lakh landless tribal families in the State would get land by the end of the 12th Plan period. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday said nearly three lakh landless tribal families in the State would get land by the end of the 12th Plan period. Launching an ambitious plan that envisages conferring land titles on every tribal household in the...