-Frontline.in Interview with Aruna Roy. ARUNA ROY is a well-known social and political activist. A former Indian Administrative Service officer, she resigned from the IAS in 1975 and has since worked with the most oppressed in society. Aruna Roy’s observation on government service is indicative of her future concerns: “Everyone calls it an elite service; I always felt the discourse should be a bit better than what it was. I was shocked...
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Child road safety report sets off alarm bells, minister Gadkari says it's a 'failure' for him -Anisha Dutta
-Hindustan Times Gadkari, who launched the ‘Rear Seat-Belt Usage and Child Road Safety in India’ report, pointed that almost 90% Indians also face safety risks by not using rear seat belts. New Delhi: Nine out of 10 Indians do not secure children with seat belts while travelling in four-wheelers or ensure they wear helmets on two-wheelers, according to a study, which Union minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari cited on...
More »Open defecation continues unabated
-The Hindu ‘Open defecation levels are still above 40% in ODF States; Swachh Bharat has not brought behavioural change’ New research on the impact of the Swachh Bharat Mission in the rural parts of four northern States shows that while open defecation has fallen and toilet ownership has increased, the percentage of people who owned toilets but continued to defecate in the open has remained unchanged between 2014 and 2018. This indicates...
More »What Ails CAG, and What Can Be Done? -BP Mathur
-Centre for Financial Accountability blog The institution of Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in India is patterned on the British model. In Britain, The Exchequer & Audit Department Act of 1866 created the office of CAG with a view to strengthen democracy and exercise parliamentary control over national finances. The office of CAG came into being, thanks to the missionary zeal of William Gladstone who was Finance Minister at the time...
More »MGNREGA's information system flawed, misguiding -Debmalya Nandy
-Down to Earth The scheme's Management Information System destroys local Accountability, promotes centralisation and administrative control and gives out wrong data There is an increasing tendency in the Union government to show performances of central schemes, especially social welfare programmes, through data captured by the Management Information System (MIS). It is indeed a matter of astonishment how the MIS data always shows high performances of schemes and programmes, while ground surveys and...
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