Warning that delays in wage payments were crippling the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in Chhattisgarh's Maoist-affected districts, Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh outlined his Ministry's latest attempts to jumpstart development in these areas. In the past, Mr. Ramesh has spoken of prioritising development in the country's 60 ‘Left Wing Extremism' [LWE] districts as a crucial prong in his government's battle against the guerilla army of...
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'Had panchayats been bolstered,naxals could have been checked'
-PTI Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh today said that had the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act been implemented properly, the naxal menace would not have become so big in Chhattisgarh and other places. Talking to reporters after his tour of the naxal-affected areas of the state, Ramesh said that PESA was brought in in 1996 to strengthen panchayats of scheduled areas, but it was not enforced in the right...
More »All smiles for bumper harvest by Animesh Bisoee
Jharkhand has produced more rice than it needs this season, thanks to the monsoon bounty after three consecutive years of drought, enabling the state to set up procurement centres in all 24 districts for the first time. Till now dependent on Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh for its annual requirement of around 20 lakh tonne of par boiled, or usna, rice, Jharkhand is likely to log a bumper harvest of 35-37...
More »Shield for vendors on Delhi plate by Sobhana K
For some people, life is all about a fried hollow globe with a thumb-jabbed hole in the middle. Hot, sour, sweetened or served in dahi (curd), phuchkas are a part of growing up. Unfortunately, the men who sell the phuchkas don’t know where the next jab will come from. Their thumb, or the sudden snatch of officials. Reason: there’s no law to protect them from harassment for selling their stuff on streets. But things...
More »Skepticism about HDRs by Bibek Debroy
This seems to be season for Human Development Reports (HDRs). UNDP's global HDR for 2011 has been published. In that, the headline grabbing number was that India is ranked 134th out of 186 countries. This ranking is based on HDI (human development index), a composite indicator with three sub-heads of health (life expectancy), education (literacy, gross enrollment ratio) and PPP per capita income. HDI ranges between 0 and 1 and...
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