Economic Survey wants public accountability information system

September 9th, 2009 Fed survey: most of US in economic healing modeWASHINGTON — A new government survey finds the vast majority of the country reporting economic activity is stabilizing or improving, as the worst recession since the 1930s appears to be over. The Federal Reserve's snapshot of economic conditions backs predictions by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and most other analysts that the economy has started to grow again in the current quarter.

July 24th, 2009 NEW DELHI - An ombudsman will be appointed to ensure that welfare schemes like the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme are implemented properly, Minister of State for Rural Development Agantha Sangma said here. She said on the sidelines of a function late Thursday that an ombudsman kind of system was being developed to ensure accountability and transparency in government-run welfare schemes.

July 2nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - The government must allow entry of private players in passenger train operations and railway services to tourist destinations, the Economic Survey tabled in parliament Thursday said. "Private entry into provision of passenger train must be allowed to and from all the tourists destinations," said the survey.

July 2nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Economic Survey tabled in parliament Thursday has sought the integration of diamond processing sector with jewellery manufacturing so as to boost exports. "Forward integration of the diamond processing sector to jewellery manufacturing, where the value addition achieved is the highest, will help in boosting the export performance once the existing economic downturn passes by, the survey said.

July 2nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - India's Economic Survey for 2008-09 tabled in parliament Thursday has called for decontrolling petrol and diesel prices at the earliest even as the opposition protested the fuel price hike announced a day earlier. The government increased petrol and diesel prices by nearly 10 percent Wednesday, citing as a reason the climbing international oil price which has increased the burden on the state-owned oil marketing companies.

July 2nd, 2009 CHENNAI - Life insurance penetration in India dipped in 2007, first time since the sector was opened up for private players a decade ago, said the country's Economic Survey for 2008-09 released here Thursday. "The life insurance penetration in India increased from 1.77 percent in 2000 to 4.1 percent in 2006, before declining to 4 percent in 2007," the survey tabled in parliament by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said.

July 2nd, 2009 CHENNAI - Expressing satisfaction over pension sector reforms, the government in its Economic Survey 2008-09 has said the new pension system (NPS) will be offered to more segments. "Efforts are underway to extend the NPS to new segments (autonomous bodies, state governments and unorganised sector) and introducing micro-pension initiatives," said the survey tabled in parliament Thursday.

July 2nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Economic Survey the government presented in parliament Thursday called for revitalising the divestment policy so as to generate at least Rs.25,000 crore (Rs.250 billion/$5.22 billion) annually. List all unlisted public sector enterprises and sell a minimum of 10 percent of equity to the public, the survey stated.

July 2nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - There should be a single regulatory body for the transport sector including highways, railways, ports and airports to ensure better cohesion, the Economic Survey for 2008-09 tabled Thursday has suggested. According to the survey, there should be at least one member from each of these sub-sectors and the authority could have specialized groups of professionals in each sector.

July 2nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Owing to a shortage of long-term finance, it is difficult to achieve the investment target set for the infrastructure sector for the 11th Five-Year Plan period, India's Economic Survey for 2008-09 released here Thursday said. The government has estimated an investment requirement of $500 billion in the infrastructure sector for the plan period that ends in 2012 for achieving inclusive growth.

June 8th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Despite signs of an improving economy, India Inc feels actual recovery will happen only after September, a survey by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has found. According to the survey, conducted by the CII northern region, 96 percent of respondents believe a turnaround would happen only in the second half of 2009-10, thanks to the ongoing global slowdown The survey found 72 percent of respondents expecting the economic growth to be in the range of 5-7 percent this fiscal.

May 29th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Residents of the national capital are more satisfied than earlier with public services like health, education and transport, a new survey reveals. The social audit conducted by the Public Affairs Foundation (PAF), Bangalore, was aimed at determining the level of satisfaction in various services being offered by different departments of the government like education, health, transport, Public Distribution System (PDS), the sub-registrar office, issues of certificates and water tankers.

April 6th, 2009 NEW DELHI - A majority of chief information officers (CIOs) of companies in India expect the economic slowdown to end by October-December 2009, a survey conducted by market intelligence IT consulting major IDC India showed Monday. The survey, titled 'Identifying Opportunities in the Current Economic Scenario', was conducted among 467 CIOs from mid-sized and large enterprises across 18 industry verticals in February-March 2009, IDC said.

February 15th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Right to Information (RTI) Act 2005 has made public servants more accountable than before, acting Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said Monday. 'The enactment of the Right to Information Act 2005 at the centre and in many states has bridged a critical gap in the public decision making process and ushered in greater accountability of public servants,' Mukherjee said while presenting the Interim Budget 2009-2010 in the Lok Sabha.

February 4th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India has been ranked 13 in a survey of 85 countries on transparency of national budgetary allocations and financial activities. According to the Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability (CBGA) and the International Budget Partnership based in Washington, India is among 27 other countries which provides some, albeit incomplete, information to the public on the national budget.