The rural development ministry has mooted the idea of concurrent evaluation of welfare schemes. Rural development minister Jairam Ramesh has put forward a proposal to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, outlining the proposed concurrent evaluation network to improve the efficiency and quality of outcomes of all rural development schemes. The government's annual budget for rural development comes second only to defence. In the current fiscal, the ministry's allocation (including spend on drinking...
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Belittling CAG Diminishes Parliament’s Effectiveness by BP Mathur
The Comptroller and Auditor General’s Report on the 2G Spectrum has created a great deal of controversy and his role is being questioned. The Public Accounts Committee could not finalise its report due to the splitting on the issue on party lines. The JPC currently examining the matter has taken an unprecedented step of taking evidence of a junior officer of the CAG’s set up, since retired, and quizzed the...
More »2G windfall for social sector by Gaurav Choudhury
The Supreme Court verdict cancelling all the 122 telecom licences that jailed former telecom minister A Raja had issued to eight firms in 2008 has unexpectedly opened up a new window that can help the government earn up to Rs 75,000 crore. The revenue raised from the fresh auction of spectrum freed up after last week's SC ruling will come as a welcome relief for the government that has been struggling...
More »Budget 2012: Finmin seeks to blur plan-non-plan distinction by Devika Banerji & Deepshikha Sikarwar
The Planning Commission and the finance ministry are at odds over the accounting of plan and non-plan schemes in the budget. While the finance ministry is pushing for inclusion of more than 10 non-plan schemes in the planned budget for the next financial year, the Planning Commission is resisting the move as it would eat into the share of existing schemes. The commission's reluctance follows an expected cut or flat allocation...
More »Jairam Ramesh, Minister for Rural Development interviewed by Anil Padmanabhan & Elizabeth Roche
As minister for rural development, Jairam Ramesh oversees the largest spending in the social sector by the government. This includes the marquee Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) that was pioneered by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance in 2006. The minister, an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is known for his forthrightness. In a typically candid interview to Mint on...
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