The Rural Development Ministry seems to be a familiar ground for Jairam Ramesh . No sooner was he given the new portfolio, he announced that the two bills related to land acquisition would be clubbed. The minister spells out his priorities in an exclusive interview with ET. Excerpts: What will be the key motif for the omnibus land acquisition law you are proposing? The bill will be facilitative not restrictive....
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Ombudsmen of states on NREGA failed, need central body: Jairam
It was in 2009, the Central Government directed the state governments to set up offices of Ombudsman to ensure transparency and accountability in implementation of the NREGA Act. Ramesh said he wanted to "build a system for a tighter financial accountability" in implementation of all the flagship programmes of the Ministry including NREGA, PMGSY, NRLM etc and would consult Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Vinod Rai in this regard on...
More »Now, The Oil Stain by Lola Nayar
By exposing its lesser arm, is the petromin hiding bigger sins? Petro Fallout * Murli Deora, who as petroleum minister sought the CAG Audit and sanctioned a CVC probe, offers to quit his ministerial post * CBI action reinforces CAG draft report findings blaming DGH for oversight in implementation of production-sharing contracts * Unease in market, as yet another CBI probe into charges of DGH having favoured RIL in its...
More »Centre mandates state social audit for NREGS by Devika Banerji
The government will set up statelevel independent bodies to carry out financial and social audits of its flagship rural employment guarantee programme, which critics say is riddled with corruption. The rural development ministry will also make it mandatory for state governments to submit a report on the social audit, which unlike other government audits, allows beneficiaries of the scheme to register complaints. The move to increase transparency in the Mahatma...
More »How India's oil sector is mired in controversies by Ruchika Chitravanshi & Jyoti Mukul
The CBI search at V K Sibal's residence on Friday is likely to bring into the open a number of controversies that have surrounded the office of the directorate general of hydrocarbons (DGH) and the ministry of petroleum and natural gas in the two tenures of the UPA government. The searches were a tipping point in allegations against Sibal, a former director general of hydrocarbons whose tenure started in 2004 under...
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