Days after the biggest Maoist attack, in which 76 security personnel were killed in Dantewada, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today asserted that firm action would be taken against those challenging the authority of the state, but, in a careful moderation, added that one could not overlook the fact that Left-wing extremism flourished in underdeveloped areas. Singh's observations on the Naxal issue came at a gathering of the country's top bureaucrats on...

Days after several persons were hospitalised after exposure to radioactive waste at a West Delhi scrap market, it emerges that the only data available with the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) is almost three years old. And even that is alarming: 5,300 tonnes of hazardous waste was generated in the Capital every year, according to the survey last conducted in 2007. The state pollution control body has no information on...

* Documentary evidence gathered by the Central Employment Guarantee Council (CEGC) from Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Rajasthan points to large-scale embezzlement in nrega projects * Panchayats often furnish fake bills and fictitious companies have been floated to divert funds * Hundreds of crores are lost to this sort of Leakage * The CAG, too, has pointed out  large-scale irregularities and corruption in the implementation of NREGA projects...

An inquiry committee appointed by the Supreme Court to look into the functioning of the public distribution system has just turned in a damning report to the effect that the system is riddled with corruption and has virtually collapsed in some states. This observation will not come as a surprise to most people. Indeed, it is not a coincidence that even the Central government’s own Economic Survey mentions the need...

Flaws In The PDS… Poor verification norms, over two crore bogus BPL cards Over 1.2 crore BPL families don’t have a ration card No monitoring, resulting in pilferage, gaps in delivery, poor quality foodgrains Poor profit margins a major cause for corruption Lack of information hinders benefits from reaching the poor …and the Solutions Base fair price shops on new business model The Centre takes ‘responsibility’ for delivery in states Make verification...