Taking a leaf out of the Andhra Pradesh’s book, Rajasthan Government has decided to institutionalize social audits for effective monitoring and implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS). A part of the Ashok Gehlot-led Government’s commitment is to set up a full time Directorate of Social Audits to ensure regular execution of social audits and their follow ups. The new programme is likely to be launched on October...

Several civil society organisations of Tamil Nadu are getting together to organise a Peoples’ Audit in the state to assess the need and efficacy of the proposed 139 Special Economic Zones (SEZs) that are in various stages of approval. The audit will take place from October 24 to October 26 and members of the media are welcome to participate and witness the exercise in the presence of eminent economists, social...

The details of agreements signed by governments with private organisations to execute projects can no longer be kept secret, the Central Information Commission (CIC) has ruled. If a right to information (RTI) application is moved seeking the relevant information, it will have to be provided. The decision is likely to have far-reaching and potentially damaging implications as private companies may well shy away from such close scrutiny of their financial...

Farmers and affected people from 8 districts present their cases before an eminent panel; Public Audits will take place in seven other States also   DIV VILLAGE (RAIGAD DISTRICT): Speakers at the first Public Audit of special economic zones (SEZs) in Maharashtra raised trenchant questions on the constitutional validity of the law permitting these zones, and called for dislodging the government that was promoting such illegalities. Farmers and affected people...

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is confident that the NREGS is his best bet to offset the drought but many grassroots activists are unsure of the scheme’s effectiveness, especially after some recent amendments. While the drought has spread to 246 districts, a heated debate rages on the poor peoples’ entitlements versus rural asset formation, even though in theory the two positions appear complementary. 14 organisations throughout the country are up in arms...