-The Hindustan Times As the general election nears, the government has allowed Members of Parliament (MPs) more flexibility in utilising their local area development fund. They can now install solar lights at public places, build public infrastructure in cooperative societies and buy furniture for schools. Every parliamentarian gets Rs. 5 crore every year as Member of Parliament Local Area Development (MPLAD) Fund to carry out developmental works in his or her constituency....
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CM sows what Buddha couldn’t reap -Pranesh Sarkar
-The Telegraph Kolkata: The Mamata Banerjee government today announced a scheme to allow big private investors to directly procure farm produce - a segment that Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee could not liberate from the stranglehold of the Forward Bloc. The scheme titled Brihat Krishak Bazar Yojana, which loosely translates into mega farmer market programme, seeks to "connect the local market to high-growth demand centres" and weed out middlemen. The project will allow private developers to...
More »Young MPs score high on attendance
-Indo-Asian News Service New Delhi: At a time when MPs are not seen to take their legislative business seriously - the last session was an exception - the younger MPs seem to be slowly making their mark and impact in the Lok Sabha. Cutting across party lines, young members have scored higher on many fronts, especially attendance which was higher for them than the overall average. Meenakshi Natrajan, the Congress MP from Mandsaur...
More »Delhi delivers, but not equally to all: Report-Rukmini S
-The Hindu Among basic services, sanitation - public toilets in particular - ranks as national Capital's worst public service Despite an overall improvement in the quality of life it offers its citizens, Delhi is home to large inequalities in access to basic services, the Capital's latest Human Development Report, which was released by Vice-President Hamid Ansari and Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Saturday, has revealed. Seven years after coming out with its first...
More »The unaccounted costs of targeting-Martin Ravallion
-The Indian Express A degree of targeting is useful in ensuring that policies are effective in reducing poverty. But we have to be careful how this is done. With the right policies, India has a good chance of seeing accelerated poverty reduction in the coming decades. As I have previously argued, this will require that India does a better job in reaching the country's many poor people through its social policies. However,...
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