-Express News Service   The best way to save a project is to make its beneficiaries responsible for it. At least that was the idea of the previous LDF Government when it mooted the formation of village-level social audit officers for the transparent implementation of NREGS (National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme) in the state. The new government has also decided to go forward with the idea and has included the formation...

Recently launched National Rural Livelihood Mission might help the government in getting desired results from its social benefit schemes. Seen as the next big rural project after the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, NRLM will provide a platform for formation of village groups that will then assist in fine-tuning existing government schemes. The government's expectations from NRLM stems from the instances of success in some states that have been able to...

A year before assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, the Planning Commission has ranked the state poorly on performance of 12 major flagship schemes of the Central government. The new analysis is likely to provide Congress ammunition against the Mayawati government on UP for not been able to utilize the Central government funds effectively. The new ranking, which is the part of annual state plan report for 2011-12, finds UP at the bottom...

The Posco Pratirodh SanGram Samiti on Tuesday contested Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's claim that no force was being used to acquire land for the proposed steel project of Posco as his government was for peaceful industrialisation. “The Chief Minister is telling lies,” said Prashant Paikray, spokesperson of the Samiti, which has been strongly opposing establishment of the mega steel plant that would affect the lives and livelihoods of thousands of...

The ends may justify the means, but let's be clear - in rural India, extremes of coercion are being used to encourage toilet use Robert Chambers recently wrote that community-led total sanitation is leading to a development revolution, especially in south Asia. I agree with his assessment of sanitation's importance. In practice, however, the success of community-led efforts often hinges on the use of outright coercion. In my experience, the measures...