-The Hindu Chief medical officers of 72 districts colluded with politicians and contractors in swindling funds meant for poor patients; the CBI has filed 82 cases so far Investigations into the Rs. 9,000-crore National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) scam in Uttar Pradesh have led to the arrest of 149 persons, with the Central Bureau of Investigation arraigning 350 people as accused in 82 cases of corruption, cheating, forgery and conspiracy registered so...

-The Times of India Gandhinagar: The delayed implementation of the National Food Security Act (NFSA) by the Gujarat government from April 1 has thrown up a rather unappetizing truth. More than 1.58 lakh people with permanent government jobs, four wheelers, five or more acres of land, monthly income of Rs 10,000 and paying income-tax -- were feeding off wheat and rice at Rs 2 per kg and highly subsidized sugar and kerosene...

-Hindustan Times About 330 million people are affected by drought in 10 states as 256 districts reel from severe water shortages and poor farmers suffer crop losses. The current dry spell is partly because of two back-to-back years of bad monsoons. Policy makers have no control over fickle weather whims. As credit rating and research agency Crisil points out, the rising frequency of weather shocks amid higher vulnerabilities has compounded agrarian...

-The New Indian Express NEW DELHI: The unprecedented drought in 9 states — at the beginning of April itself — poses the biggest challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi who recently launched several farmer-centric initiatives to ensure drought-proof agriculture in a bid to provide fresh impetus to the economy. As per a note submitted to the Prime Minister by a panel of secretaries, only 45 per cent area is irrigated in the...

Seldom rural citizens get the chance to meet high-level officials who are responsible for delivery of public services and implement pro-poor schemes. But this was made possible thanks to the Accountability Yatra, which is taking place in Rajasthan since December 2015.   It is indeed a rare opportunity to find a District Education Officer (DEO) being asked directly by a simple villager in a public meeting that in how many school...