-The Times of India The Centre will stop direct transfer of funds to districts or societies operating in states, and will instead provide the money to the state exchequer, having concluded that the existing system was the reason for multi-crore scams like the one in the National Rural Health Mission. The new system to put funds in the consolidated fund of states is apparently aimed at putting central funds under the scanner...

-Live Mint Panchayat-related caste violence continues unabated and has become a part of the social reality today In ancient India, the panchayat system was based on the age-old caste system, social status and family. Although the local self-government concept was introduced in 1882, it took more than 100 years for the local self-government institutions to become a part of the Indian Constitution. While tremendous possibilities have been opened up in the...

-The Hindu To bridge the gap in development between the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and non-SCs and STs, a coalition of more than 150 organisations is demanding a national law to prevent, once and for all, the diversion, non-release, non-implementation and lapsing of the Special Component Plans for SCs/STs. In response to the coalition's longstanding demands, the National Advisory Council's guidance and the letter Sonia Gandhi wrote to the Prime Minister...

-New Indian Express Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday said nearly three lakh landless tribal families in the State would get land by the end of the 12th Plan period. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday said nearly three lakh landless tribal families in the State would get land by the end of the 12th Plan period. Launching an ambitious plan that envisages conferring land titles on every tribal household in the...

-The Hindu Left parties to press for referring land acquisition bill to panel VISAKHAPATNAM: Continuing her tirade against attempts by the UPA Government to adopt the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011, in Parliament without addressing the concerns expressed by many, CPI (M) Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat on Sunday accused Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh of dancing to the tune of the corporate lobby. At a seminar on ‘Tribal...