-Outlook Lucknow: Taking note of media reports and state-level reviews over the delay in clearance of wages under the rural job scheme, Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh has written a letter to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav urging him to ensure prompt payments. The letter, dated January 8, states that it has been mentioned in the law that payments under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS) have...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The comptroller and auditor general (CAG) is finalizing a report on yet another instance of massive loss to the state exchequer because of favours shown to private parties by the political establishment. The CAG's audit report on the Taj Expressway project could also find place among India's biggest scams, with successive Uttar Pradesh governments being accused of causing loss of thousands of crores to the...

-The Hindu     Educationists emphasise importance of public participation Chennai: The Right to Education (RTE) Act guarantees children a place in school but it requires political will and public participation in running schools and sensitive bureaucrats who understand the needs of children to make it effective, say education activists. At a discussion organised by The Hindu Centre for Politics and Public Policy here on Wednesday, eminent persons associated with children's education spoke of the...

-The Times of India LUCKNOW: The World Bank has approved a $500 million credit for the rural water supply and sanitation (RWSS) project to improve piped water supply and sanitation services through decentralized delivery systems in the states of Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh. According to Census 2011 data, only 31% of the 167 million rural households in India have access to tap water and domestic toilets. About 67% of the...

-Newsclick.in With sixty percent children malnourished in the state, the implementation of the Integrated Child Development Services, the largest scheme to provide nutrition to children in the country, is nothing but a sham. Sitting outside her semi-pucca house in Bilgram block, Kasturi says, "My children get five fistful of panjiri once a month from the Aanganwadi Centre." Thirty-three year-old Kasturi has never, in her parents' village or her in-law's village seen an...