The audited balance sheets of the six largest political parties in India are hard to get and harder to decipher: they hide more than they reveal but are nonetheless worth close examination. Between them, the Congress, BJP, BSP, SP, NCP and CPM reported total income of Rs 1,046.76 crore for the year ending March 31, 2009. That was the year in which most of the funds for the 2009 Lok...
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NREGA ombudsmen fail to take off by Sreelatha Menon
When the National Rural Employment Guarantees Scheme (NREGS) was announced, the idea of having ombudsmen to oversee the rollout of the scheme to prevent corruption was also mooted. Now, when India is in the grip of a furious debate on the appointment of a Lok Pal and his jurisdiction, the concept of a Lok Pal for NREGS appears to have been forgotten. The ombudsmen were to be selected by a committee of...
More »Anna Hazare and Gandhi by Prabhat Patnaik
To call Anna Hazare the 21st-century Gandhi, as some have started doing, is pure hyperbole, but many would see a similarity in their methods — in particular, in their resorting to fasts to achieve their objectives. This, however, is erroneous. Indeed, the fact that so many people consider Anna Hazare’s method to be similar to Gandhiji’s only indicates how little contemporary India remembers or understands Gandhiji. Gandhiji undertook 17 fasts in...
More »Militants attack FCI godown near Imphal
-The Economic Times Militants lobbed a grenade at a Food Corporation of India (FCI) godown at Sangaiporou area in Imphal West district but no casualty was reported, official sources said today. The militants lobbed the grenade at the godown at around 9 pm yesterday. The godown was guarded by central para military forces at Sangaiporou, about 7 km from here. The officer in charge of nearby Lamphel police station along with police personnel...
More »Bengal has most criminal MLAs; TN most crorepatis
The West Bengal assembly tops the list of criminal candidates and it has 102 such MLAs. Most of these MLAs have criminal serious charges pending against them. Among the other three assemblies -- Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, and Assam -- which have been analysed by the National Election Watch, the richest assembly is (without a doubt) Tamil Nadu. The report on Kerala assembly is still awaited. It has 120 crorepati candidates in the...
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