In Bihar, the coupon system to distribute PDS grain fails to prevent corruption. AT the Jamaluddin gram panchayat in Patna district on January 26, 2007, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar launched an ambitious reform of the public distribution system (PDS) in Bihar: a coupon system. He claimed that it would “empower the poor and stop black-marketeering” and that it was “not a simple coupon but a powerful weapon in the hands...
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In the year and now by Ramachandra Guha
The Republic of India has a billion (and more) citizens who, at any given time, are involved in a thousand (and more) controversies. Knowing which controversy is the most significant is always hard, and often impossible, to judge. Even so, we can be fairly certain that 2011 will go down in Indian history as the year of the Great Lokpal Debate, just as 1962 was the year of the war...
More »High Court slams Anna, says fast can be nuisance for some
-The Hindustan Times Team Anna was left red-faced on Friday when the Bombay high court said what was “satyagraha” for it could be a “nuisance” for others. Worse, in a face-saving move later, Anna Hazare publicly denounced his team's decision to move court — and get snubbed in the process — as “wrong”, calling his followers “overenthusiastic”. Team Anna had sought an exemption or discount on the rental for the Bandra-Kurla Complex grounds...
More »Rahul slams Uttarakhand govt for diverting funds
-The Hindustan Times Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Friday accused the ruling BJP in Uttarakhand of corruption, kicking off his party’s campaign in the hill state which goes to polls early next year. “We (Centre) had sent thousands of crores for the MNREGS (rural job guarantee programme), Kumbh preparations, Sarva Siksha Abhiyan and for roads. Did it reach here? Big (BJP) leaders are involved in land scam. It was your...
More »‘CBI's autonomy seriously compromised' by Vinay Kumar
A day after the introduction of the anti-graft Lokpal and Lokayukta Bill, 2011, in the Lok Sabha, sources in the Central Bureau of Investigation on Friday felt that the agency's autonomy of investigation had been “seriously compromised”. CBI sources said the Bill did not seem to confer greater autonomy to the investigative agency—one of the focal points of the civil society's agitation for bringing about a strong, effective and credible Lokpal...
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