The State Government has announced that it will be appointing ombudsman to monitor the works taken up under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR) Minister Jagadish Shettar, answering a query by S R Patil (Cong) in the Karnataka Legislative Council said that a vigilance committee as well as the ombudsman will be appointed to look into the problems. Patil, during the question hour,...

Proposal to set up mega food park in each State Three boards to be set up to promote processing of fisheries, soybean and guar gum Food processing industry accounts for 14 per cent of the total industrial output The Food Processing Ministry will give priority to farmers, self-help groups and women for providing grant-in-aid in setting up food processing enterprises. It has also identified Bihar, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Jammu and Kashmir...

In April, India’s Planning Commission accepted recommendations put forth by the so-called Tendulkar Committee on a new poverty headcount for the country. Constituted by the Planning Commission under economist Suresh D Tendulkar, the committee, after four years and a new methodology, arrived at a new figure for the number of Indians living below the poverty line: 37.2 percent, ten points higher than the previous official figure. With the government’s subsequent...

The proposal that the poor be given direct cash subsidy under the food security law when grain is not available may not go through with many members of the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC) denouncing the move. Top sources confirmed that the Planning Commission's suggestion did not find favour with some members of the council who argued that a push should be given to "more government procurement" and overhauling the...

A law empowering Indians to seek information from government to promote accountability and transparency has brought change to urban India, but has largely left out the country's rural poor, social activists say. The Right to Information (RTI) Act - similar to the Freedom of Information Act in the United States - was enacted almost five years ago and is aimed at providing a practical way for all citizens to access...