The Central budget of 2010-11 is a further step in the realisation of a vision of India vibrant with the income, wealth, saving, education and the entrepreneurial energy of the top 5-10 per cent of the population and the rest of Indians, serving that minority and surviving as barely literate, malnourished multitude.  With the accession of Rajiv Gandhi to power, a vision began to germinate. That vision was that of...

Killed, aborted or neglected, at least 100m girls have disappeared—and the number is rising IMAGINE you are one half of a young couple expecting your first child in a fast-growing, poor country. You are part of the new middle class; your income is rising; you want a small family. But traditional mores hold sway around you, most important in the preference for sons over daughters. Perhaps hard physical labour is still...

The Supreme Court has clarified that land-losers can challenge the compensation awarded by a collector within six months of “coming to know of it” to avoid “unreasonable discrimination”. Till now, an application for higher compensation had to be filed within six months of the collector announcing the award. The ruling came on appeals filed by some Uttar Pradesh villagers against a high court judgment that rejected their plea for a review. Permitting the...

A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by a bunch of farmers against acquisition of their agricultural land and the government’s food security policy triggered intriguing remarks from the Delhi High Court, which wanted to know what “kind” of farmers they were. The petition was filed by the farmers against acquisition of their land in Kanjhawala. The petitioners contended that the move was against the government’s food security policy. The petition...

The Centre has given the State a “very poor” rating The number of claims has jumped to 3,03,960 by the end of January The implementation of the Scheduled Tribes and Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act in Maharashtra has dismayed Adivasis and activists alike. Even the State government is painfully aware of its slow progress. With only 1.19 per cent of the 2,39,542 total claims under the Act received till...