The Centre will give CAG a place in social audit of rural job scheme and direct the states to set up directorates to train auditors from civil society. A nominee of CAG would be present in social audits that gram sabhas would conduct twice a year. CAG would also do an annual audit as part of its mandate. Coupled with the rigour of CAG's accounting, the exercise would also bring in...
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Pranab takes on board Sonia's concerns by Smita Gupta
Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee made sure to defer to the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council's priorities as he presented the Union budget for 2011-2012 on Monday. The Minister took care to mention that the Food Security Bill, the NAC's top priority, was almost ready and would be brought before Parliament later this year. He also took on board the NAC's concerns on the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme...
More »Nudged by Sonia, govt plans Central NREGA audit by Swaraj Thapa
Barely a month after Sonia Gandhi flagged concerns over shortcomings in the implementation of UPA’s flagship MNREGA scheme and sought strengthening of social audit done by the gram sabha, as mandated under the Act, the government is looking at the scope of amending the Act to allow for better accounting scrutiny by the Central agencies. A meeting convened by Law Minister Veerappa Moily with Rural Development Ministry officials Monday examined...
More »Dr. Howarth E Bouis, director of HarvestPlus interviewed by Down To Earth
Dr Howarth E Bouis, director of HarvestPlus, is a doctorate from Stanford University. He is promoting biofortification within the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, agricultural research and nutrition community in various countries. What is biofortification of crops? Biofortification is a process where plant breeders explore crop genetic diversity in seed banks and create a crop that is rich in specific micronutrients. There are two ways to biofortify crops—conventional plant breeding and...
More »Limbless singer gives voice to India's rural poor by Beatrice Le Bohec
Bant Singh, a scarred survivor of class violence in rural India, has an indisputable claim to be a voice for India's impoverished and muted millions. The folk singer lost both arms and a leg in an attack five years ago after he dared to challenge high-caste landlords in his area of the northwestern state of Punjab who had raped his 17-year-old daughter. Set upon by a gang armed with iron bars, he...
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