The setting aside of 50% of seats in the proposed Lokpal for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled tribes, Other Backward Classes, women and minorities, triggered a sharp debate within parties today around a central, normative question: should social diversity, especially inclusion of minorities, weigh in an empowered body to “fight corruption?”   While the BJP has opposed it and Team Anna, caught off-guard on a sensitive political issue, has declined to comment, legal experts...

-Press Information Bureau   The Ministry of Tribal Affairs is implementing Central Sector, Centrally Sponsored and Special Area Programme for the integrated socio-economic development of all  Scheduled tribes in the country. These schemes/programmes are meant for welfare of  the tribal people, including those living in Maoist affected areas.  A list of  majorschemes/programmes of the Ministry is Annexed. The Integrated Action Plan (IAP) was approved on 25.11.2010 for 60 selected tribal and backward...

-Press Information Bureau   The National Scheduled tribes Finance and Development Corporation (NSTFDC) has launched an Education Loan Scheme for students belonging to Scheduled tribes in the country in the month of November, 2011. The requirement for availing benefits of the scheme are that the annual family income of the Scheduled tribe candidate shall be upto double the poverty line and the candidate is willing to pursue technical/professional education, including Ph.D. in...

-The Telegraph   New laws are often brought in without assessing their judicial and financial impact. The result is poor implementation, says Seetha Call it collateral damage. According to newspaper reports, agriculture minister Sharad Pawar has written to the Prime Minister asking for the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) to be put on hold during the peak season of agricultural operations. With a guaranteed income of Rs 100 a day for at...

-Rediff.com   Several officers in various government departments and ministries have used fake caste certificates for their appointments but hardly any of them have been punished, revealed a Cabinet minister on Monday. Responding to a question posed to the prime minister, Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office V Narayanaswami said that as many as 1,832 central government appointments across 52 departments and ministries were detected to have been made on the...