Four mega-programmes of the government, meant to tackle big-ticket issues like child nutrition, school education, health and employment, appear to be faltering not because funds are short but because adequate manpower has not been put in place. This is the surprising finding of a new study done by the Center for Budget and Governance Accountability (CBGA), a New Delhi based think tank. The four mega-programs are Integrated Child Development Services...

The world's second largest national headcount operation, the Census of India, is significant for several reasons. The largest peace-time administrative activity of the Indian state is also the third since economic liberalisation was initiated. Three decades is enough time for a nation to assess the economic impact and implications of a change in macroeconomic policies, and hence Census 2011 should provide statistical insights into what the move away from state-led...

About 80,000 youths from Below Poverty Line families are to be imparted job-oriented skill training under the National Rural Livelihood Mission, though the programme is yet to be launched formally. The Union Ministry of Rural Development has approved 14 projects for skill training leading to placement in urban settings, at an estimated cost of Rs. 165 crore, to be executed through private-public partnership mode. The Centre will contribute 75 per cent of...

The attempt of the Central Information Commission (CIC), the final appellate authority for implementation of Right to Information (RTI) Act, to bring transparency in the functioning of government departments through voluntary disclosure of information on websites has come a cropper. Of the 1,600 public authorities (government departments, apex bodies, autonomous organisations and ministries) listed by the Commission, only 125 have obeyed its directive and appointed transparency officers. The macro picture...

C.Chandramouli, registrar general and census commissoner of India, is on the threshold of one of the most challenging months of his career. As the head of an army of 2.7 million enumerators who will fan out for almost a month beginning 9 February, Chandramouli talked to Mint about the methods and controversies of the second phase of India’s 15th census exercise. Edited excerpts: The National Population Register (NPR) seems to be...