-The Times of India New Delhi: Only 16 districts in India have so far become open defecation free (ODF) - an indication of the formidable challenge ahead in achieving complete sanitation across 677 districts in the next three-and-half years. Government officials admit the deadline of October, 2019, is a tough one, though they have set year-wise goals. In the first phase, 163 districts have been identified and during the next financial year,...
More »SEARCH RESULT
Most of rural India still opts for open defecation: NSS report
-The Hindu Jharkhand has lowest percentage of households with toilets while Sikkim has the most More than half the rural population of the country still opts for open defecation, says the recently released Swachhta Status Report by the National Sample Survey (NSS) Office. The nation-wide rapid survey was conducted during May-June 2015, concurrently with the 72nd round of the NSS. The survey was to track the government’s flagship programme, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan....
More »At The Margins -Lola Nayar
-Outlook Is the devolution of national funds to states really worth the praise? * Share of the states in the divisible pool of central taxes has risen from 32% to 42% for five years till 2019-20 * Rise in untied funds transferred is accompanied by cut in Central assistance for state plan spending * Limited ability of the poorer states to expand their fiscal space with own revenue collection * Funds for rural development...
More »Political expediency wins over cooperative federalism -Nitin Sethi & Ishan Bakshi
-Business Standard Cess, surcharges come in handy New Delhi: Looking to leave its political imprint over spending in rural India, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has budgeted for a massive 31 per cent hike in its share of spending on nine big-ticket centrally sponsored schemes (CSS) in 2016-17 over last year's budgetary allocation. Last year's Budget mantra of 'cooperative federalism' has been sidestepped to favour political exigencies. To fund these schemes, which...
More »Mysuru, Chandigarh cleanest cities in India, show Swachh Bharat rankings -Pretika Khanna
-Livemint.com Tiruchirappalli, New Delhi Municipal Council area of the national capital among other cities in the top 10 New Delhi: Mysuru topped the rankings of India’s 10 cleanest cities released by the government on Monday. Chandigarh, Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu, the New Delhi Municipal Council area of the national capital, Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, Surat and Rajkot in Gujarat, Gangtok in Sikkim, and Pimpri-Chinchwad and Greater Mumbai in Maharashtra followed. The rankings are...
More »