Amid the furore over misappropriation of funds meant for development, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has proposed bringing all rural development programmes worth about Rs 90,000 crore under the ambit of the government auditor. Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh welcomed the proposition after he met CAG today to discuss the social audit of the government's flagship National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) in all states. The minister said the matter would...

The government plans to pay `80 every year for three years to state-owned banks for each account they have for a beneficiary of the rural job guarantee scheme. This is expected to provide an incentive to lenders to ensure quicker delivery of wages under India’s flagship welfare programme. “We have made a proposal to the finance ministry that a public sector bank gets paid `80 per year for each MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi...

To promote self-employment among people living below poverty line (BPL), particularly women, the rural development ministry proposes to set up a dedicated national bank for women self-help groups (SHGs) and also lower the interest rate on the credit they receive from any nationalized bank. Rural development minister Jairam Ramesh on Monday said he will soon take up both these proposals with the finance ministry. “We have proposed a detailed paper for a...

New rural development minister Jairam Ramesh, who declared his intent to focus on Naxal-hit areas on the day he took charge, is set to visit these. Ramesh, who his ministry officials describe as a man in a hurry, is setting off to Raipur, Jagdalpur and a few more places in Chhattisgarh. The visit is likely this week, sources said. At the signing of a loan agreement today with the World Bank...

Union Minister of Rural Development Jairam Ramesh has proposed an “ACTIONS” plan as the guiding principle for the 12th Five Year Plan, putting off the Planning Commission's suggestion to axe Centrally sponsored schemes and give States a free hand to chart their path of development. After his meeting with Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Saturday, Mr. Ramesh told The Hindu of the discussion they had on...