-The Financial Express Amid the government's efforts to curb fiscal deficit, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on Tuesday criticised the Centre for cutting down on capital spending, over-stating spending on centrally sponsored schemes and doling out some subsidies without obtaining Parliament approval. UPA's flagship scheme Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) also came under the scanner with the CAG questioning whether the entire amount booked for the job scheme...
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When teachers demanded double the mid-day meal for children on Mondays
-The Hindu Mumbai: On his trip to the Adivasi belt of Thane, teachers who got wind of journalist P. Sainath's (The Hindu's Rural Affairs Editor) visit approached him with a problem. "Could you please ask the government to provide twice the amount of mid-day meal on Monday? After the Friday afternoon meal, our children starve over the weekend. No teacher is willing to teach this bunch of kids whose bellies are...
More »The Poor Man’s Rich Grain
The poor man’s rich grain is getting richer – a new study published in the Journal of Nutrition shows that a variety of new pearl millet (more commonly known as bajra), which was conventionally bred to be 10% richer in iron helped iron-deficient children under the age of 3 years, to absorb enough of this crucial mineral to meet their physiological requirements. (See links below for full text and a...
More »Jairam Ramesh backs deeming SCs/STs poor -Subodh Ghildiyal
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Rural Development minister Jairam Ramesh has come out in support of the demand that SCs/STs be deemed to be poor with the exclusion of government employees and tax payers among them, adding a new twist to the debate on the identification of poor. Responding to the issue raised by social justice minister Selja, Ramesh told TOI, "I am for dalits and tribals being considered poor with...
More »Gram sabhas: public shy of discussing needs, problems
-The Hindu Collector asks people to have a blueprint for making their village free from open defecation Vellore (Tamil Nadu): Gram sabhas conducted four times in a year - on Republic Day, May Day, Independence Day and Gandhi Jayanthi - are meant to be an open forum to enable public to demand schemes, especially on basic amenities required for the villages and benefits from welfare schemes. But, in reality, the public, especially...
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