It has to be but a means to development, not an end in itself Is India doing marvellously well, or is it failing terribly? Depending on whom you speak to, you could pick up either of those answers with some frequency. One story, very popular among a minority but a large enough group—of Indians who are doing very well (and among the media that cater largely to them)—runs something like...

-The Economic Times   The Centre's flagship rural employment programme will soon come under the scrutiny of the national auditor, which will look into its implementation in the 12 states that receive the largest share of funds. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India will scrutinise the expenditure and outcome of the public works initiated under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in these states over the past five...

All rural schemes will also get a common accounting format; audit to begin with MGNREGS in 12 states At a time when the government is reeling under a number of corruption cases—several of these following critical reports from the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG)—the ministry of rural development has roped in the statutory auditor to conduct a financial, compliance and performance audit of its schemes. All schemes of the ministries...

-The Hindu   A member of the district unit of People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) said that he was being harassed by some officials and members of Paduperar Gram Panchayat for exposing financial irregularities in the panchayat. PUCL member and RTI activist Roshan Lobo told presspersons that he had exposed a number of irregularities in the panchayat, because of which he was being harassed. He has lodged a complaint with the police. Holding...

-The Telegraph   The comptroller and auditor general today began a performance audit of the rural job scheme in 12 states, including Bengal, amid allegations of widespread corruption hobbling India’s largest social sector programme. The idea is to see whether the scheme has indeed secured villagers’ livelihood by providing guaranteed employment, and whether rules have been followed in its implementation. For instance, at least 60 per cent of the expenditure on every project under...