Putting an end to the months of controversy over fund sharing for the Right to Education Act, the Union government has now fixed a 65-35 sharing pattern. The pattern, which received the in-principal approval of the expenditure finance committee of the ministry of finance, will be applicable for the next five years. With this, states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, both governments that had demanded 100% Central assistance, will have...

Systemic Failure * Despite record procurement, poor storage has led to a criminal waste of grain * 61,000 tonnes of grain rotted as it was left in the open during the monsoon * The FCI had shut down storage facilities after low procurement in 2006-07 * The plan for decentralised storage facilities is 40 years old. It’s still hanging fire. * EGoM did not clear the surplus grains for the PDS since it would have...

Underpressure from the states, the central government has agreed to bear a higher burden of the cost of implementing the Right to Education. The Centre’s share of the financial burden will be at 68%, a sharp rise from the sharing pattern of 55:45 in the current year and the proposed 50:50 from 2011-12 . The new sharing pattern has been approved by the Expenditure Finance Committee on Wednesday. The ministry...

The Centre has revised the financial allocation under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act over the next five years. As against the Rs.1,71,000 crore suggested earlier, the Finance Ministry has now approved an allocation for Rs.2,31,000 crore. The Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC) under the Finance Ministry has also agreed to increase the Centre's share effectively to 68 per cent and reduce the State share to 32 per...

The Andhra Pradesh Government has released a social audit primer for the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme. Releasing the primer here on Monday, Mr Vatti Vasant Kumar, Minister for Rural Development, said the primer would help the people understand various issues involved in measuring the works and expenditure in the job guarantee scheme. “It will bring awareness among the members of Gram Sabhas, community and elected representatives on the implementation of the...