Against the backdrop of allegations about under-utilisation of funds in the Northeast, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today bemoaned this trend, while claiming that the current Union government has made allocations to the region like never before. “All I can say is that our government has increased very substantially the allocations for the development of infrastructure in the northeastern region. I think the amount of money that we have allocated has...

The PPP model proposed in the Eleventh Plan provides for no government or social control over education. It will lead to the privatisation and commercialisation of education using public funds.  Public-private partnership (PPP) has become a fashionable slogan in new development strategies, particularly over the last couple of decades. It is projected as an innovative idea to tap private resources and to encourage the active participation of the private sector...

Kerala Food and Civil Supplies Minister C. Divakaran has come out strongly against the suggestion of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) that the Union government withdraw from grain procurement, storage and distribution under the Public Distribution System (PDS) and outsource these to private operators. FICCI makes the suggestion in a study report, which was released a few days ago. In a statement here on Monday, Mr. Divakaran...

Tamil Nadu has been highly successful in implementing the concept of Industrial Facilitation Council, which helps small units address the problem of payment default by their clients and get back their dues, according to G. Sundaramurthi, Industries Commissioner and Director of Industries and Commerce, Speaking to journalists here on Friday, he said that Tamil Nadu's achievements in implementing this concept were recognised nationally. In a recent meeting of Industry Ministers of...

Admitting "leakages" in funds meant for various development programmes and schemes, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday, said that the government was working to rectify the problems. "There are leakages in programmes and schemes. You cannot deny that. It had been and is the endeavour of the government to rectify these," Singh told reporters here. The Prime Minister was asked about the steps taken by the government to ensure that...