MPLADS funds will only be used for the material component of the projects Federal lawmakers can now use their discretionary funds to Finance work taken up under the government’s flagship jobs scheme, a move aimed at creating more lasting community assets in the villages. The government has decided to converge the Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) with the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). But MPLADS funds...

-PTI The wives of ministers in the Nitish Kumar-led government in Bihar are richer than their husbands, details of movable and immovable assets declared by the ministers for the year ended December 31, 2011 have revealed. The property details of the ministers and their family members were posted on the Bihar government website before the Assembly election.   The ministers, whose spouses have earned more movable assets, are: Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi,...

The government, the largest owner of landed property in the country, is preparing a comprehensive land sale policy to raise revenues and check corruption in government-owned property deals. The Finance ministry will shortly move a cabinet note for bringing in a new uniform policy on 'land alienation' by government agencies, with an eye on removing discretionary powers of individual ministers and bureaucrats, said a government official. In big cities, large tracts...

Facing criticism over project delays, the government has decided to get cracking and set up a dedicated forum to remove bottlenecks such as coal linkages and environmental and defence clearances that hold up projects.  Top government officials told TOI that following the meeting of the Prime Minister's Council on Trade & Industry last month, the department of industrial policy and promotion has been asked to identify projects and remove bottlenecks in...

-PTI The CAG probing the NRHM scam in Uttar Pradesh has found anomalies in spending of around Rs 5,000 crore under the scheme in about two dozen districts of the state. The state health department failed to give proper details of spendings worth around Rs 5,000 crore of the Rs 8,657 crore given to the state, \highly placed sources said. The Comptroller and Auditor General submitted a report on its findings to the...