After taking on Suresh Kalmadi and Co on the Commonwealth Games, Rajya Sabha MP and former panchayati raj minister Mani Shankar Aiyar has now trained his guns on the UPA government and the Planning Commission for bureaucratising all flagship programmes like the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and the National Rural Health Mission. In a free-wheeling interview with ET, Mr Aiyar said instead of relying on panchayati raj institutions for better...
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'Systemic reform to root out corruption still needed' by Bharat Dogra
Aruna Roy , member of National Advisory Council, is in the thick of preparations for a truck yatra and dharna to mobilise people for demands relating to rights of weaker sections and systemic improvement of governance. Bharat Dogra spoke to her about the need for this mobilization: The general impression is that Rajasthan has a better record of governance. I agree that Rajasthan has an above-average record in the implementation of NREGS,...
More »No Money for food security in this Plan
The Planning Commission has expressed inability to provide funds for implementing the National Food Security Act in the final lap of the Eleventh Five Year Plan, arguing that doing so would mean it will have to divert funds from existing schemes. Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, in his presentation before the National Advisory Council (NAC) here on Friday, proposed the rollout of the scheme from the beginning of...
More »Farmers call off strike
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today pledged Rs 300 crore to farmers to make Bharatiya Kisan Union (Rajewal) President Balbir Singh Rajewal accept a glass of juice to end his five-day hunger strike in Mohali. Addressing a joint press conference along with Rajewal, the Chief Minister said the Rs 300 crore would compensate farmers for the diesel used by them to grow paddy last year in near-drought conditions. The Rs...
More »Driven to despair by S Dorairaj
Trade unions and labour rights activists blame the high suicide rate in Tirupur, Tamil Nadu, on the practices of the garment industry. TIRUPUR has carved out a niche for itself in the world of garments. Its phenomenal growth in the highly competitive global scenario, particularly in the past two decades, has been made possible by the entrepreneurial spirit of its manufacturers and exporters and the sweat and labour of thousands of...
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