-The Hindu Action, not just offering flowers, will be the real tribute As the nation pays tribute to Dr. B.R. Ambedkar on his 122 birth anniversary (April 14), one would realise that much more remains to be done to achieve his aim of social equality for the suppressed classes. A principal architect in drafting the Constitution, he made significant efforts at giving political rights and social freedom to Dalits. However, till date,...
More »SEARCH RESULT
No high five for RTE -Louis Georges Arsenault
-The Hindu Success stories from the right to education law give no joy when assessments show that children are ill-versed in the 3Rs and classrooms remain discriminatory Three years ago today, India, for the first time in history, made a promise to its children. With the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education coming into effect on April 1, 2010, every child was guaranteed the fundamental right to eight years of...
More »Schools of Discrimination-Subhash Gatade
-Kafila.org The village of Majure, in Chitradurga district, Karnataka, is once again in the news. It made the national headlines in 1998 when dalits in the village lodged a police complaint against members of the dominant Vokkaliga and Lingayat castes for an attack on their hamlet. As a consequence, several people were put behind bars. This time round, however, no formal complaint was lodged. Not that things have improved (rather, one could...
More »A platform of, by and for the connected-Rahul Verma and Pradeep Chhibber
-The Indian Express Increasing frequency and intensity of protests reflect a deeper crisis in Indian democracy: the failure of civil society In the last five years, citizens have poured out in large numbers at Jantar Mantar and India Gate (and in many other parts of the country) to ask the state to hear their demands. In 2006, marches and sit-ins forced the state to re-examine the Jessica Lal and Priyadarshini Mattoo cases....
More »The elephant in the room -Biraj Patnaik
-The Times of India Crest The biggest hurdle for the DCT programme is the identification of the poor. The "gamechanger" announcement of the UPA 2 government on Direct Cash Transfers (DCT) for 45 schemes has generated much debate through the week with opinions flying around faster than money can get electronically transferred. At the heart of it, the idea of this proposed DCT is unexceptionable. Existing programmes where government transfers money to...
More »