The Planning Commission on Thursday approved Rs 14,000 crore for 60 Naxal-affected districts on the condition that states would have to undertake governance reforms and improve the performance of existing flagship programmes. The decision comes two days before Home Minister P. Chidambaram,   Environment and Forests Minister Jairam Ramesh and Tribal Affairs Minister Kanti Lal Bhuria discuss development issues with officers of the rebel-hit districts. The money in the Integrated Action Plan...

The power of the Gram Panchayats of sanctioning works under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) has been curtailed down to Rs 1 lakh from Rs 10 lakh, said Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer P Shivashankar. Addressing the District Vigilance and Monitoring Committee meeting on Wednesday at ZP hall, he said that the step has been taken up by the Government following several complaints of misuse of funds under...

Rural level micro plans will be chalked out for sustainable exploitation of natural resources and making rain-fed agriculture profitable. Under the micro plans, several works of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme will be taken up in an integrated way with the convergence of other government schemes and programmes. This information was given by Principal Secretary R. Parshuram while addressing a workshop at Academy of Administration here today. The...

In the absence of whole-hearted steps to implement the provisions effectively, the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005 is falling short of expectations.  The Delhi High Court ruled recently that a woman can also be held liable under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005. This the court did on the basis of the interpretation that ‘relatives' included not only male but also female members of...

DHARWAD: Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR) Minister Jagadish Shettar said that the Union Government has allocated Rs. 4,600 crore to the State to implement the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, and called on the officials to work towards effective implementation of the scheme. Sincerity stressed Inaugurating the Gram Panchayat Project Development Officers' Meet here on Monday, Mr. Shettar said every gram panchayat official and staff should discharge his or...