-Outlook Against the backdrop of death of 23 children in the mid-day meal tragedy in Bihar last month, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said the scheme will be reformed and "concrete measures" will be taken to ensure that meals provide under it are nutritious and cooked hygienically. Addressing the nation from the ramparts of historic Red Fort on the 67th Independence Day, he said the "tragedy" which happened in Bihar should not...
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Government should reward progressing states, not backwardness
-The Economic Times The government, reportedly, is creating a new composite development index to rank states that use new, more comprehensive criteria. Since the 12th Finance Commission recommended special grants for backward regions, in addition to special allocation of Plan funds to so-called Special Category states, there has been some enthusiasm among state leaders for accentuating their respective state's backwardness. Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has invested a lot of political...
More »BIMARU States Are Progressing, Says PM
-Outlook New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said rural per capita consumption has increased four times faster than earlier due to enhanced economic prosperity in rural areas and BIMARU states have witnessed progress. "Many states which had been considered backward for a long time, with some of them being called BIMARU are now progressing," Singh said in his Independence Day address to the nation. The BIMARU states are four northern Indian states...
More »Government seeks to woo Nitish with new backward state measure
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: An expert committee under chief economic advisor Raghuram Rajan has identified 10 parameters for a new Composite Development Index, whose adoption by the Centre will change the way thousands of crores are transferred annually and can potentially set the stage for realignment of political forces in Bihar before the 2014 polls. The new index seeks to rate states on the basis of their distance from the...
More »Schools for scandal -Anil Sadgopal
-Frontline The midday meal scheme is a grand idea in a flawed school system. "THEY played here, studied here and got buried here!" (Yahin khela, yahin padha aur yahin ho gaya dafan). With these emphatic words, grieving parents buried the bodies of two children within the compound of the Dharmasati Gandaman Primary School of Masharakh block in Saran district of Bihar. This sentiment was expressed with great dignity even in the...
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