Sikkim now needs to adopt mechanism to sustain assets that it has created under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) programme. A research team from country's premier rural management institute - the Institute of Rural Management, Anand ( IRMA) - which evaluated MGNREGA's implementation in the North Eastern state has suggested this to the Sikkim government. Sikkim is the only state which has bagged three national awards...

No major investment in dam projects before land acquisition, relief and rehabilitation sorted out Project should be cleared only after distribution network is provided For years, it has been felt that engineers of the Irrigation and Water Resources Departments are far removed from human considerations while planning and executing a project. This is why concerns at displacement and rehabilitation of project-affected people and farmers for whom the water is meant are not...

Twelve Gram Panchayats from seven states have been selected for the Award under the Scheme of Awards for Best Performing Gram Panchayats for the year 2009-10. These are Khairwahi (Dondi Block) and Machandur (Durg Block) from Durg District of Chhattisgarh; Kalauna (Dadwali Block) from Sirsa Disstrict of Haryana; Nedumkandam (Nedumkandam Block) from Idduki and Kottukal (Athiyannoor Block) from Thiruvanthapuram districts of Kerala; Pandurna (Mukhed Block) from Nanded district of Maharashtra;...

The Orissa government has to give an assurance that not a single person is entitled to benefits under the Forest Rights Act, according to one of the conditions set by the Union environment ministry while giving provisional clearance to the Posco project today. The condition has been imposed following allegations that claims under the Forest Rights Act had not been settled. The act deals with dependants on forests for livelihood. The project,...

Despite its slackening industry, the common perception of West Bengal as a backward state has little substance when one looks at the facts. Most of us are conditioned to view economic development in terms of industrialisation. While industrialisation is essential for economic transformation, it is not as if economic growth is not possible without it. The sectoral structure of India's gross domestic product (GDP) and its slow transformation makes a good...