-The Indian Express An accountability framework is critical for flagship schemes In his budget speech, the finance minister gave the assurance that all flagship programmes of the government would be adequately funded. The government pours substantial funds into 70 Centrally sponsored schemes. In 2011-12, an amount of Rs 1,88,573 crore was allocated for the implementation of 13 development programmes, such as the MGNREGA, PMGSY, NRHM and JNNURM, under the auspices of nine...

-Live Mint The Street Vendors Bill, 2012, is the first attempt to regulate urban street hawkers India’s more than 10 million street vendors should be registered on the basis of their Aadhaar numbers to ensure proper identification, a standing committee has recommended in its report on the Street Vendors Bill, 2012. “The Aadhaar card may be linked towards identification of street vendors,” the panel said in the report it submitted to the Lok...

Introduced in the Lok Sabha in December 2011, the UPA government’s Food Security Bill is finally going to be discussed in the current (Budget) Session of Parliament. The proposed legislation is now slated to see many additional amendments from the government, following criticism from the States, NGOs and diverse stake-holders working on access to food and child health. Attempt here is to summarise in a Q & A format the...

-PTI Madhya Pradesh Sanitation Vision 2025 aims to make urban areas in the state free of open defecation by 2017 and achieve a near complete sanitation access through provision of individual household level toilets by 2025 Madhya Pradesh government has charted an ambitious plan to completely stop open defecation in urban areas by 2017 and provide sanitation access through individual household toilets by 2025. "The 'Madhya Pradesh Sanitation Vision 2025' (MPSV) has been...

-Frontine Walmart’s disclosure that it spent huge amounts of money on lobbying in India and the allegation that it entered the retail sector through indirect means highlight the power of global capital in dictating the country’s policies. The world’s largest multi-brand retailer Walmart’s disclosure to the United States Senate that it had spent $25 million (Rs.135 crore) since 2008 on its various lobbying activities, which include enhancing access to the Indian...