While data can empower communities, it reinforces identities, making local politics more caste-centric, with decisions increasingly contested on the grounds of representation.
Such dynamics could lead to shifting alliances and, in the worst case, local governance getting paralysed as each group demands proportional power-sharing, explain Amitabh Kundu and Mehebub Rahaman.
The Rural Development Ministry has been allocated Rs 1.88 lakh crore in the Union Budget for 2025-26, around 5.75 per cent more than the allocation in the previous budget.
The Uttar Pradesh government has deployed two senior IAS officers, who were part of the team that successfully conducted the 2019 Ardh Kumbh, to oversee the smooth conduct of the Maha Kumbh Mela in the wake of the recent stampede that left at least 30 pilgrims dead. The officers, Ashish Goyal and Bhanu Chandra Goswami, have extensive experience in administration in Prayagraj, including crowd management and inter-agency coordination. They will join Mela Adhikari Vijay Kiran Anand, forming a trio that was part of the mega fair six years ago. The government has also deployed additional senior police officers to strengthen security and crowd management ahead of Basant Panchami, one of the key bathing days of the festival, on February 3.
Here is the complete list of ministers in Modi 3.0 and their portfolios:
This is the fourth such recruitment drive proposed to be undertaken by the Narendra Modi government which had in 2018 initiated lateral entry.
The Centre has appointed senior IAS officers Vumlunmang Vualnam and Neeraj Mittal as new secretaries in the ministry of civil aviation and the department of telecommunications respectively in a major secretary-level bureaucratic reshuffle, a government order stated.
Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai also said that the central government has not enumerated caste-wise population other than SCs and STs in census since Independence.
Union Minister for Road, Transport and Highway Nitin Gadkari on Thursday said his ministry can address the water woes faced in parts of the country.
India's report outlining its steps towards the promotion and protection of human rights will be taken up for review as part of a mechanism under which UN member States review the human rights performance of fellow States, on Thursday in Geneva, according to the ministry of external affairs.
'It has been an ongoing process, talking to the relevant ministries about eliminating leakages and curbing non-core expenditure in various schemes.'
The government has no proposal at present to release the report of the caste census carried out in 2011, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Wednesday.
Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh sanctioned Rs 1133 crore to Tamil Nadu for upgrading 3,000 kilometers of roadways under Prime Minister Gramin Sadak Yojana.
Singh said it is the principle of BJP not to promote nepotism and fight against dynasty rule and his decision to resign is in line with the party's principles.
PMRDF is an excellent opportunity for committed young people to contribute to enhancing development and welfare of the people in rural and tribal areas of the country.
Centre is to allocate Rs 1,000 crore for Tamil Nadu from the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojana to lay roads in interiors of more than 1,000 kms connecting villages to main towns.
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari was on Wednesday given the additional charge of portfolios held by Gopinath Munde who died in a road accident in New Delhi.
The Union ministry of agriculture and the department of land resources under the ministry of rural development have given "in principle approval" to a proposal of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) to invite FDI for developing non-arable land through better technology into fertile and cultivable land.
Of these 8.5 million additional people employed in September, 6.5 million were in rural India, reveals Mahesh Vyas.
Under the plan being worked out, the labour component of the railway projects, which include the expansion of train lines or conversion of line gauge, would be funded from NREGS, as most of these projects require a large labour force and generate employment opportunities in rural areas.
The government is undecided on the criteria to be used to identify families living below poverty line in India.
"It may be a wild thought now. But the first Green Revolution came about as a result of very high water guzzling cropping systems from the irrigated regions of the country. But the NREGA holds the trigger for a second Green Revolution from the rain-fed areas, but using water conserving technologies and working with the smaller and poorer farmers while the first revolution came from the big farmers," Dr. Sharma said.
The ministry of health and family welfare spent Rs 3,948 crore in May this year compared to Rs 7,816 crore in the corresponding month of the previous year. On the other hand, at Rs 12,930 crore, the expenditure had risen almost 200 per cent in April against Rs 4,327 crore in the corresponding month of 2019-20.
In a draft proposal, the ministry of rural development has also sought to engage non-government organisations in the ambitious programme by designating them as Lok Sewaks, who would in turn appoint and guide Lok Karmis in their territorial jurisdiction, which would not be more than four blocks in a district.
Citing the steps taken by government for rural development and poverty alleviations, the finance minister said, 'these initiatives and other interventions of the government need people's involvement and continuous interface with the government institutions.'
As indicated by Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, the UPA government has already initiated process to make higher allocation in social sector.
The Union government is on a social sector roll. Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee had indicated that the United Progressive Alliance government was going to make the social sector the centrepiece of the upcoming Budget. According to Dilip Ghosh, special secretary, Panchayat Raj department of West Bengal, the Centre has indicated that the demand for grants for these projects should be hiked at least 50 per cent more than the present allocation.
In an advisory to the states, ministry of rural development has also asked them to take effective measures to ensure that rural households receive their 'due entitlement' under the Act in the districts facing drought.
Ministry of rural development has asked chief secretaries of the states to inform about the remedial measures taken by them to ensure timely payment of wages to NREGA workers, an official said.
The ministry asked the state governments to ensure that the job cards had the unique identity number, photographs of the registered members, postal account number or bank account number, elector's photo identity card number, signature or thumb impression of the applicant, seal and signature of the registering authority and signature of the officer.
Members protest, rural ministry assures it will not be so hereafter.
A total of 829 candidates have qualified for civil services, including the Indian Administrative Service and the Indian Police Service, the Union Public Service Commission announced
The rehabilitation policy, which is being currently formulated by the Ministry of Rural Development, is unlikely to affect the special economic zones already approved by the government.
Norms flouted, non-BPL families cornered grants, say rural development ministry's reports.
The farm sector's contribution to Indian economy is just around 20 per cent and rural India is in a shambles.
S S Meenakshisundram on Wednesday took charge as secretary in the ministry of divestment.\n\n
'Steven MacQueen, who was working for the [Afghan] Ministry of Rural Development and Rehabilitation, was killed last night,' British embassy press officer Colin Ball said.
Several houses in Edavanakkad and Puthu Vype, in Ernakulam district, were destroyed and five persons killed when tsunamis hit the Kerala coast on December 26.
The government is preparing a national hydrogen road map and will launch a national mission on bio-diesel next month as part of efforts to encourage use of alternate fuels, the Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday.
Launching the scheme, Modi said during the nationwide lockdown, the talent from cities returned to villages and it will now give a boost to development of rural areas. The 'Garib Kalyan Rozgar Abhiyaan' will be implemented on a mission mode in 125 days in 116 districts of six states -- Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Odisha -- that received the maximum numbers of migrant workers back.
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