THE Centre has approved a proposal for recruitment of 10 lakh technically-qualified personnel for execution of rural development programmes of gram panchayats.

A brainchild of rural development minister C P Joshi, who also holds the reins of the panchayati raj ministry, the move is expected to strengthen panchayati raj institutions, while creating a back-up machinery for various rural devel

Rajat Guha

New Delhi: In a move that could help unlock large chunks of rural land usable for industrial projects, the Centre has decided to rope in states for a mammoth project to create a national database of 2 lakh sq km of land which is currently without clear titles.

Back in 2005, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), now called Mahatma Gandhi NREGS or MGNREGS, was offered as a tool to liberate Dalits and weaker sections in rural India by giving them employment.

Five years down the line, a Union Ministry of Rural Development-sponsored investigation has found that the scheme has become

A CONFLICT has risen between the National Advisory Council (NAC), chaired by Ms Sonia Gandhi, and the rural development ministry over the time-frame for completing the BPL census.

NAC members N C Saxena and Harsh Mander, in particular, want the head count to be completed by September 2011.

New Delhi: The Centre has cleared proposals for rural roads worth Rs 4,440 crore which includes areas in Orissa reeling under Left-wing influence.

Programme For Rural Connectivity Attracts Attention Of Influential Members
Devesh Kumar NEW DELHI

RURAL development minister C P Joshi finds himself in quandary. He had, by last year-end, sanctioned projects worth Rs 1.5 lakh crore for the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yogna (PMGSY).

The Centre in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme has invited a request for proposal for

BHUBANESWAR: The BJP today slammed the Government for its failure on all fronts and dared Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to seek a fresh mandate to prove his popularity.

Cash-Strapped Finmin Turns Down Proposal But Rural Min, States Look For Alternatives To Revise Wage