-Outlook Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh today said there was a need to have parity of wage under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) and the Minimum Wages Act. He said, in 14 states including Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Rajasthan, the wage under the rural job scheme was lower than the rate stipulated under the Minimum Wages Act. Speaking at an event to mark the 9th MNREGA Divas...

-The Hindustan Times Facing allegations of policy paralysis, the government has often said bureaucrats are afraid to take decisions in the face of increased scrutiny by the national Auditor, but HT has found that CAG doesn't have the authority to monitor more than half of the Centre's schemes and programmes. In fact, a draft bill to broaden and clarify the powers of the Comptroller and Auditor General, which has had several run-ins...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The government has accepted before Parliament's Public Accounts Committee that the findings of the Comptroller and Auditor General on UPA's Rs 52,000 crore farm debt waiver scheme were correct. The Auditor in its test check had discovered large-scale irregularities where undeserving farmers were given waiver benefit - at least one-third of the total disbursement were found questionable. On Thursday, the PAC will meet here to give...

-Outlook A parliamentary committee has picked holes in the ambitious agriculture debt waiver and debt relief scheme of the UPA government saying it could not achieve its goals due to a variety of reasons including violation of guidelines and poor monitoring. Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in its draft report on the scheme said there was a "flagrant display of financial and administrative indiscipline by the Department of Financial Services (of the...

-The Indian Express Social Audits should not be judged by state response alone. They create awareness about rights and create engaged citizens. This article is in response to Farzana Afridi's ‘Social Audit isn't enough' (IE, January 22). Social Audits have been enshrined as one of the transparency and accountability tools in the MGNREGA. Such accountability mechanisms aim to strengthen the otherwise weak institutions of delivery as they engage the beneficiaries in the...