-Deccan Herald Mangalore: Ajai Naik and Lokamma, belonging to Schedule Tribe and Malekudiya community, were earning their livelihood by working as daily wage labourers and had never dreamt of owning an arecanut or banana garden or growing vegetables in their land. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employement Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) changed the course of their life. Ajai Naik and Lokamma hail from Amtoor village in Golthamajalu gram panchayat of Bantwal taluk. The duo were the first...
More »SEARCH RESULT
In role model for Arvind's tough Act, phone taps, whistleblower protection -Aneesha Mathur
-The Indian Express New Delhi: A tough challenge awaits the Aam Aadmi Party if it has to keep Arvind Kejriwal's promise of bringing in a Jan Lokpal bill within 15 days of forming the government in Delhi. Amending the existing Lokayukta Act would have involved getting the Lt Governor's assent and getting the amendment bill passed in the assembly, where getting the numbers would have been uncertain in itself. The party has,...
More »Eye on polls, Rahul pushing for more anti-graft bills -Rajeev Deshpande
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: There was one aspect of the Lokpal bill Rahul Gandhi felt strongly about but finally decided to let go for now: Stronger accountability checks for members of the anti-corruption Ombudsman. Having prodded his party to belatedly adopt the Lokpal bill, the Congress vice-president felt recent controversies involving the judiciary did raise questions about stricter standards that require closer attention. But tinkering with the Lokpal bill, already screened...
More »A historic step forward
-The Business Standard Lok Pal important measure, but more needed In what should be seen as a victory for deliberative democracy, the Lok Sabha passed the Lok Pal and Lok Ayuktas Bill, 2013, on Wednesday with near-unanimity among political parties. Only the Samajwadi Party and the Shiv Sena objected in the end, and they chose to walk out rather than vote against the Bill or disrupt the House. The Rajya Sabha had...
More »After a long 46-year wait, India finally has a lokpal
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: After a 46-year wait, India is set to get a lokpal after the Lok Sabha on Wednesday took barely an hour to pass the landmark legislation to create a powerful anti-corruption Ombudsman amid sustained disruptions by anti-Telangana MPs. Congress chief Sonia Gandhi introduced a note of urgency in the proceedings right at the start, crisply asking law minister Kapil Sibal to "keep it short" as he...
More »