Budget 2011-12 and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. THREE decades ago, in the early years of the Special Component Plan (SCP) for Scheduled Castes – very recently renamed inappropriately as Scheduled Castes Sub-Plan (SCSP) – Indira Gandhi on her return as Prime Minister wrote two historical D.O. letters dated March 12, 1980, one to Central Ministers and the other to State Chief Ministers, regarding the SCP in the Central...

A Parliamentary Standing Committee has directed the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to blacklist all non-performing contractors, holding them responsible for the twin malaise of delays and prevalence of corruption in execution of road projects. The committee on transport, tourism and culture headed by Sitaram Yechury (CPI-M), did not rule out the possibility of a nexus among middlemen, bad contractors and corrupt officials for the delay in projects and...

Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh has asked the Orissa government to initiate action against a plant of the Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL) in Angul for starting construction in the non-forest section of the project site even before being granted clearance for the forest section. This directive was issued on Monday after it was revealed that the Ministry withdrew its own show-cause notice against the company, citing a conveniently amended circular,...

The ministry will soon introduce a system to get a third party to conduct environmental assessments for projects in ecologically sensitive areas like wetlands or projects that involve multiple sectors, he said. "Frankly speaking, environmental impact assessment reports prepared for projects are bit of a joke. Under the system we have today, the person who is putting up the project prepares the report. Even reputed government institutions do cut and paste...

Two villages in Uttar Pradesh have reversed the trend of migration by digging six kilometres of channels to bring water to drought-hit farms Call it the fallout of seven years of severe drought or government inaction, a silent revolution is brewing in Lalitpur district of Uttar Pradesh. Communities are getting united and digging channels to bring water from government canals to their fields. Some are volunteering labour, while those belonging to...