-Live Mint Lack of decentralization means municipalities lack power, resources to meet rising aspirations of ‘middle' India Othakadai, Madurai (Tamil Nadu)/Hubli (Karnataka): S. Paramasivam , president of the Othakadai panchayat, has big plans for his area. "Rainwater harvesting, removal of encroachments on roads, waste recycling, covered drainage, bigger primary health care centres and community parks," lists the 58-year-old, who has spent 30 years in the stainless steel business that dominates industry...

-The Telegraph YOGAPUR (Patna): Chief minister Nitish Kumar wants "light" in every household but there is darkness right under his nose. Barely 30km off Patna, Yogapur's inhabitants - mostly Mahadalits, Dalits and backward classes whom Nitish has tried his best to empower - have never seen power (electricity) in their village. The chief minister has vowed not to seek votes in the 2015 elections if his power dream tripped. But, it seems, there...

-The Telegraph A parliamentary panel has recommended that the Union government dissolve the ministry of development of north eastern region (DoNER) and put it under the Prime Minister's Office. The reason for the ministry's dissolution has been attributed to the plummeting efficiency levels and achievement rate in its planned schemes. "The committee, therefore, strongly recommends that the government should consider the handicaps of the DoNER ministry in a very serious manner. It should...

-The Times of India LUCKNOW: The Comptroller and Auditor General of India tabled the second performance audit of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act in Parliament on Tuesday. The first performance audit was undertaken in 2007-08. The period of coverage of the first audit was February 2006 to March 2007. The present performance audit of the implementation of MGNREGA was taken up in response to a request from the ministry...

-PTI Implementation of government's flagship scheme MNREGA has come under flak from CAG on various counts, including diversion of funds and impermissible works undertaken to the tune of about Rs 2,252 crore. The audit undertaken by the Comptroller and Auditor General of the programme launched by the Rural Development Ministry in 2006 found that works amounting to around Rs 4,070 crore were incomplete even after one to five years of launching. The CAG...