Smriti Kak Ramachandran

NEARLY half the houses constructed for the rural poor have been cornered by others in connivance with local politicians, the government has admitted.

It is now making efforts to ensure that only the targeted segment is included in the Indira Awaas Yojana scheme.

Devika Banerji / New Delhi March 29, 2010, 0:28 IST

The UP have ranked at second place in the country for utilising funds allocated under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS) which tantamount 85 percent more in comparison to previous year's record.

The norms for construction of all-weather roads under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) are not being followed in Uttar Pradesh, a major beneficiary of the scheme and erring officials continue to work on projects that were dubbed by the Central monitoring agency as poor.

Concerned over the various complaints pouring in with regard to the quality of food given to students under the Mid-Day Meal scheme in schools, the Haryana government has entrusted the responsibility of preparation and distribution of food to self-help groups (SHGs) constituted by the rural development and panchayats and women and child development departments.

A people

The current state of rural banking in the country is poor. A recent report, by the National Sample Survey Organization, revealed that 51.4 per cent of the 89.3 million total farmer households in the country had no access to credit; 27 per cent of the households were indebted to formal sources of which one-third also borrowed from informal sources.

NEW DELHI: Chairing the meeting of the full Planning Commission for mid-term appraisal of the Eleventh Plan, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pointed out that the exercise not only presents a report card of the government's achievements but also