Civil society groups have opposed a government proposal to rid its flagship rural jobs guarantee programme of malpractices, saying the plan is "hazy and lacks clear direction". The opposition to the proposal, which seeks social and financial audits of schemes under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), comes at a time when the government is facing the heat of a campaign led by social activist Anna Hazare over...

The proposed Privacy Bill seems skewed towards the state rather than the citizen Sometimes the best of intentions can camouflage the worst of motives. On the face of it, the government’s bid to bring in a privacy bill is a welcome move, a long-overdue measure. But after an initial approach paper prepared by lawyers and bureaucrats in November last year, the government went into a secretive huddle. Now a leaked...

Vinod Rai’s searing honesty in his job as the country’s CAG has the government in many a bind CAG Catch 1     2G Spectrum, 2010     The CAG audit over a six-year period from 2003 finds loopholes in the implementation of norms, leading to DoT allocating spectrum at 2001 prices. Estimated loss to exchequer: the now-household figure of Rs 1.76 lakh crore.     Outcome Former telecom minister A. Raja, MP Kanimozhi, telecom and...

The Right to Education Act, which lacks a transformational vision, is geared to preparing foot soldiers for the global market. THE most encouraging and delightful news regarding school education in India since the pro-market reforms began in 1991 came from Erode district in Tamil Nadu recently. To be sure, it is neither about the World Bank-sponsored District Primary Education Programme (DPEP) of the 1990s nor about the internationally funded and...

From the Middle East to Madagascar, high prices are spawning land grabs and ousting dictators. Welcome to the 21st-century food wars. In the United States, when world wheat prices rise by 75 percent, as they have over the last year, it means the difference between a $2 loaf of bread and a loaf costing maybe $2.10. If, however, you live in New Delhi, those skyrocketing costs really matter: A doubling in...