-Live Mint Why do the central and state govts deliberately undermine the constitutionally created panchayats? The collector of any district in India would be heading 100 to 150 committees related to various development initiatives in the area. Collectors often don't get time to prepare for or preside over the meetings of these committees-imagine what happens to implementation then. On the other hand, the heads of district panchayats and municipalities in the...

-The Times of India The Supreme Court on Wednesday frowned upon official security cover being provided to the rich, saying if the government and police had been alive to providing adequate security to citizens, then 5/6-year-olds would not have been raped in the country. Even though the government's decision to provide paid security cover through CISF personnel to one of the world's richest businessmen, Mukesh Ambani, did not figure specifically during the...

-The Indian Express As the tenure of the incumbent draws to a close, let's debate the institution's structure and powers It is time for the selection of a new comptroller and auditor general as the tenure of the incumbent draws to a close on May 22. Traditionally, the CAG has been an unseen agency, churning out audit report after audit report on every department supported by government funds every year. The last...

-The Hindu Instead of opening a debate on the Gadgil panel's report on the Western Ghats, the government has chosen to sideline and replace it with another by an alternate group This is a challenging time in India's development history where a number of tenets of environmental governance are being questioned by the imperative of growth. Environmental governance in India is under assault, and is thus in need of both fresh thinking,...

-The Times of India The Supreme Court ripped apart the myth of CBI's autonomy on Tuesday by exposing that it was under the thumb of the government of the day. The apex court tore into the government for seeking to vet the CBI's status report to the SC on the Coalgate scam and subvert it. The court didn't mince words while saying that the government's attempt to change the investigation status report...