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...

-Zee News   A successful use of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Act (MGNREGA) in Nanded, one of the most backward districts of Maharashtra, has seen groundwater levels improving dramatically over the past three years.  Shrikar Pardeshi, District Collector, received an award from Prime Minister manmohan singh for "Effective Initiative under MGNREGA" for 2010-11 a few days ago.  "(Over last three years) The groundwater level in the district has increased by 9 meters. The...

-The Hindu In a fresh move to resolve the deadlock over the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNNP), Chief Minister Jayalalithaa announced in the Assembly on Saturday that the State government will constitute a panel of experts immediately to go into the safety system of the proposed plant and “perceptions and apprehensions” of the local population. The panel would submit its report to the government at the earliest, on the basis of which...

The PM, Raja, TRAI, telecom firms... the apex court lets no one off the hook The Supreme Court’s stinging judgement against the government in the 2G spectrum scam case is an extremely significant attempt by the country’s highest court to curb the corrupt nexus between business and politics and will further damage the UPA’s already battered credibility. The court’s decision will not merely have far-reaching consequences on India’s political economy,...

-The Telegraph   Sonia Gandhi decried corruption in the rural jobs scheme as a “crime against the poor”, the words coming on a day the Supreme Court cancelled over 100 graft-tainted 2G licences. “We cannot ignore cases of corruption in this scheme. Corruption in MGNREGA is a crime against the poor people,” the Congress chief said at a programme organised here to celebrate the sixth anniversary of the scheme. Prime Minister manmohan singh...