-The Indian Express The subsidy bill in the current financial year is expected to rise to 2.4 per cent of the GDP from 1.9 per cent estimated in the Budget, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said today. "The estimated major subsidies in 2012-13 would be around 2.4 per cent of GDP," he said while intervening in a discussion at the meeting of the Full Planning Commission to approve the 12th Plan draft document. The...

-Outlook Aiming to address concerns over MNREGA implementation and stop Leakages of funds, government has formulated a set of standard operating procedures (SOPs) to streamline the redressal process, including timelines for both the Centre and states to disposal of complaints. The SOPs have been implemented with immediate effect and has been shared with the concerned department of all the state governments, Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh said here today. "This is the second...

-The Hindu Instead of rigid targeting, the government must build on the success of the public distribution system which is quietly becoming a significant means of social support In earlier writings, we have drawn attention to the quiet revival of the public distribution system (PDS) in many States during the last few years. Market prices of PDS commodities — mainly rice and wheat — have sharply increased, giving people a much greater...

-People's Democracy IT seems the Sheila Dixit government of Delhi, backed by powerful elements in the UPA-2 central government, will let nothing stand in the way of water privatisation in the capital. Several earlier attempts going back many years to fully or partially privatise distribution of water, especially the big loan application to the World Bank in 2005, were foiled by vigilant community organisations, public interest groups, trade unions and political...

-The Hindu An anthology of independent evaluations of MGNREGA shows that it has provided income security, improved health, narrowed the gender gap and created useful assets   In the midst of the debates that prevail in this country over the feasibility of the world’s largest public works programme, the MGNREGA Sameeksha — an anthology of independent research studies and analysis on the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, from 2006-2012 — is...