Do ppp ventures come under RTI Act? Planning Commission says not its call THE Planning Commission of India has disowned any responsibility for bringing companies involved in public-private partnership (ppp) projects under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. The Commission said individual ministries which have tied up with private companies are responsible for these projects. There were several RTI applications filed seeking information on ppps but the RTI Act is not...

In early April, the government was sitting on a pile of 44 mt of wheat and rice, more than double of what is required for maintaining the buffer stock Every three or four years, India witnesses a boom-and-bust cycle in agriculture. In the trough, prices hot up and imports of foodgrains become necessary. At the crest, all that is forgotten, there is talk of exports and life moves on. Any thought...

The union finance ministry’s decision to partially subside capital investment in healthcare and education by extending the “viability gap funding” facility to these sectors is welcome as they are vital areas of social infrastructure, which are no less important than roads and bridges. But every sector has its own complexity and the nuancing that the health ministry has sought for such subsidy to healthcare infrastructure needs serious attention. The ministry’s...

The Planning Commission has shot down a proposal of the Central Information Commission (CIC) to bring private entities executing projects under the Public-Private Partnership (ppp) mode under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, arguing that it is applicable on public authority and not on private companies. "RTI is not Right to Information on private companies. It pertains to information on public authority," deputy chairman of Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, said...

Policy reforms required to bring about better convergence of schemes Streamlining of environment clearance for infrastructure projects suggested Higher farm sector share in economic development needed The Economic Survey 2010-11 has advised the government to carry out nearly a dozen reforms pertaining to various sectors of the economy and stressed that action in this regard would be necessary to achieve the 9 per cent GDP (gross domestic product) expansion projected for 2011-12 and...