-The Times of India   NEW DELHI: The government on Friday introduced the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill in Rajya Sabha, seeking to increase reservation for disabled persons in public sector jobs from the existing 3% to 5% and reserve seats for them in higher education institutions. Persons with disabilities under the proposed legislation -- which also seeks to broaden the ambit of disability from seven to 19 sub-categories -- will, however,...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Backed by villagers and displaced people from different states, members of 200 NGOs from across the country on Monday slammed environment and forests minister M Veerappa Moily for ignoring environment and social concerns while granting speedy clearances to mining and infrastructure projects. Alleging that recent clearances pointed to "high corruption", the groups wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. They also demanded immediate rollback of the...

-The Business Standard Interview with Director General, Independent Evaluation Office, Planning Commission The Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) was created at the Planning Commission in August 2013 to monitor the outcome and effectiveness of various social sector initiatives taken by the UPA government. It began with an evaluation of the Public Distribution System (PDS). Ajay Chhibber, Director General of the IEO, a former assistant secretary general of the UN Development Programme, tells Sanjeeb...

-The Times of India LUCKNOW: A Lucknow bench of Allahabad high court on Friday ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe into allegations of financial irregularities in MGNREGS in seven districts of Uttar Pradesh. Expressing displeasure over corruption in the scheme's implementation, the bench also directed the agency to hold preliminary inquiry into use of MGNREGS funds in other districts of the state. The court said the agency should conduct...

-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...