-Live Mint   Panchayati raj minister V. Kishore Chandra Deo on how the system can function more effectively With the amendments that effected mandatory constitutional powers to panchayats and urban local bodies marking 20 years, V. Kishore Chandra Deo, Union minister for panchayati raj, acknowledged in an interview that the units of local self-governance could function more effectively. He also suggested that the three-tier system of panchayats could be improved to meet challenges...

-Live Mint Mani Shankar Aiyar, India's first panchyati raj minister, talks about the challenges the institutions face On Wednesday, India marked 20 years of panchayati raj, an exercise in devolving power to people at the grassroots. Rajya Sabha memberMani Shankar Aiyar was India's first panchyati raj minister, appointed to the newly created ministry in 2004. He headed a committee that examined the reasons why attempts at sharing power with self-governance units haven't...

-Live Mint It's obvious that Indian experience with local governance is not what it should have been, but a change is underway Later this week, the country will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the constitutional amendments that made it mandatory for the creation of panchayats-the village-level bodies that deliver self-governance. Most may not be aware that this could well have been the eve of its 25th anniversary, but for the three-vote defeat...

-The Indian Express As coming-of-age rituals go, the Tritiya Sammelan Prastuti Committee (TSPC) couldn't have planned it better. Acting on intelligence by its cadre, it moved in on a group of Maoists in Chatra district's Lawalong Tola on the intervening night of March 27-28, killing 10. Among the dead was Lalesh Yadav, secretary of the Bihar-Jharkhand-North Chhattisgarh Special Area Committee, and his closest subordinates, thus leaving a vacuum at the heart...

-The Hindu   The paid news case is no longer just about Ashok Chavan. It concerns every individual and institution opposed to the sway of money power in elections Politicians everywhere are known to indulge in doublespeak and our politicians are no exception. But some recent pronouncements of our Law Minister only show that our politicians may have very few serious rivals in this sport. Not long ago, the Minister was all praise...