-The Indian Express An accountability framework is critical for flagship schemes In his budget speech, the finance minister gave the assurance that all flagship programmes of the government would be adequately funded. The government pours substantial funds into 70 Centrally sponsored schemes. In 2011-12, an amount of Rs 1,88,573 crore was allocated for the implementation of 13 development programmes, such as the MGNREGA, PMGSY, NRHM and JNNURM, under the auspices of nine...

-The Hindustan Times The Gandhian crusader, Anna Hazare on Sunday claimed that he has sufficient proof of alleged corruption and irregularities committed in the “farmers’ loan waiver scheme” of the Centre, which was brought to light by the CAG report recently. Hazare, who was in Nagpur on a two-day tour in eastern Vidarbha said, “If the government is interested in going through the proofs, I am willing to hand over to them.” The...

-The Indian Express The coal ministry is likely to tell the Supreme Court that allocations made through the screening committee route were "unimpeachable and unquestionable". A day after the Supreme Court rapped the government saying all coal blocks allocated during 2006-09 can be summarily de-allocated if breach of procedures in the defined allocation process is established, coal ministry officials are sure they can defend the policy. They aim to include the comments of...

-The Hindu Raipur: The Comptroller and Auditor-General (CAG) has completed the process of handing over four audit reports to the Chhattisgarh government. The first report was submitted on March 5 and the last on Monday, said a press release from the office of the Accountant-General (Audit) here. The CAG’s report on commercial mining of coal blocks in Chhattisgarh last year indicated that the former BJP president, Nitin Gadkari’s close aide, Ajay Sancheti, had...

-Outlook The rot runs deep and cuts across states As expected, the farm loan waiver scam has hit the spotlight, with the Comptroller and Auditor General’s critical report being released in Parliament. Given the intense political grandstanding on display, many think this report (on the gaps in the implementation and monitoring of the Rs 52,275-crore scheme) has the potential to be a major political embarrassment for the UPA ahead of the...