The food subsidy bill for 2010-11 could shoot up by nearly Rs 25,000 crore to touch Rs 80,000 crore, putting further pressure on the government’s finances, a food ministry official said on Tuesday. The government has budgeted Rs 55,578 crore for the current fiscal. The sharp increase in the subsidy is because of higher minimum support price ( MSP )) for crops and the government holding food stock that are nearly three times...
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Orissa files 500-page response in Supreme Court over MGNREGA
The Orissa government today filed a 500-page response in the Supreme Court on the stricture made by the apex court on the alleged irregularities committed in the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in the state. "We have filed a 500-page response in the Supreme Court on the status of the implementation of MGNREGA in the state. Action has been taken against around 600 errant officials in...
More »Manmohan favours hike in MNREGA wages by K Balchand
Turns down Sonia's proposal for statutory minimum wages The battle for statutory minimum wages under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) seems to be on a slippery ground with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh indicating that the government could at best cover inflation-induced erosion of wages. In his December 31, 2010 letter, Dr. Singh has turned down the proposal of National Advisory Council chairperson Sonia Gandhi to pay MNREGA workers...
More »Bengal RTI record abysmal by Ajanta Chakraborty
After a gap of five months, the West Bengal Information Commission held a meeting on Monday. But even as chief information commissioner (CIC) Sujit Sarkar promised to "streamline" things, the panel's performance since its inception in 2005 has been nothing to write home about. Among those who keenly studied implementation of the Right to Information Act, 2005, in Bengal is Magsaysay awardee Arvind Kejriwal. Findings by Kejriwal's Public Cause Research...
More »Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, journalist interviewed by Krishnakumar Padmanabhan
Hidden behind all the administrative scandals that rocked India in 2010, illegal mining is an unnoticed beast that has been eating into the country's soul. While corruption in spectrum allocation and the conduct of the Commonwealth Games are primarily about monetary loot, illegal mining is about invaluable non-renewable natural resources. In at least five major states, there were more than 20,000 complaints of illegal mining filed, but the perpetrators carried on with...
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