The audited balance sheets of the six largest political parties in India are hard to get and harder to decipher: they hide more than they reveal but are nonetheless worth close examination. Between them, the Congress, BJP, BSP, SP, NCP and CPM reported total income of Rs 1,046.76 crore for the year ending March 31, 2009. That was the year in which most of the funds for the 2009 Lok...
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Ramesh gears up to make land bill, poverty count highly political by Prabha Jagannathan
-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: Signalling clearly that the rural develpment ministry, virtually somnolent under minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, was set to go ballistic politically, minister Jairam Ramesh who took charge here on Wednesday spelt out deadlines for the three most important issues including the land acquisition bill, poverty count and stringent monitoring of UPA II's flagship programme the MGNREGA. Jairam, who earned a lot of attention in his earlier charge,...
More »Why civil society is right to up the ante on corruption by Mythili Bhusnurmath
Has civil society gone beyond its remit by refusing to back down on the issue of tackling corruption? The answer to that depends on which side of the on-going debate on the Lokpal Bill you are on. If you are with the civil society activists, then the question just does not arise. For too long has the government dragged its feet on the Lokpal Bill and civil society is entirely...
More »Hawk On His Perch by Lola Nayar
Vinod Rai’s searing honesty in his job as the country’s CAG has the government in many a bind CAG Catch 1 2G Spectrum, 2010 The CAG audit over a six-year period from 2003 finds loopholes in the implementation of norms, leading to DoT allocating spectrum at 2001 prices. Estimated loss to exchequer: the now-household figure of Rs 1.76 lakh crore. Outcome Former telecom minister A. Raja, MP Kanimozhi, telecom and...
More »Vinod Rai, Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India interviewed by Lola Nayar
The man in the hot seat, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India says he’s never faced political pressure on any audit. The man in the hot seat, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, Vinod Rai, says he’s never faced political pressure on any audit. On the 2G scam, he says his report clearly says the “amount of loss can be debated”. And it was the petroleum...
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