In the absence of whole-hearted steps to implement the provisions effectively, the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005 is falling short of expectations.  The Delhi High Court ruled recently that a woman can also be held liable under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005. This the court did on the basis of the interpretation that ‘relatives' included not only male but also female members of...

Surprise was in store for Sushil Kaushik when in 1989 he first joined duty as a constable in Serkot in Uttar Pradesh’s Bijnor district. He had no idea how corrupt police officials can be. He saw policemen taking bribes, and superiors deducting constables’ salaries without giving any explanation. Kaushik questioned his bosses on the irregularities he came across. In Serkot his colleagues would take bribes from villagers who brought fire-wood...

PALANI: Tribals, living in Kattrazhaikaradu on declivity of lower Palni Hill of Balasamudram Town Panchayat, received benefits ranging from community certificate to land pattas and school admission to old age pension on Monday, thanks to quick action taken by the district administration. From now on, tribals and their wards need not toil in private farms as they have become land owners. Their children, once child labourers, can go to school. The...

The word ‘Mitanin’ was derived from a Chhattisgarhi custom, where a ‘mitanin’ is a girl bonded ceremoniously in her childhood to another girl as a lifelong friend IT IS quite common for tractors in rural India to haul all kinds of unusual cargo. Even then, a late night emergency shuttle, from a small home in Narayanpaal village in the backward Bastar district of Chhattisgarh, to ferry a pregnant woman in...

For long, villagers have been at the wrong ends of justice being unaware of the functioning of courts and also sent on a merry-go-round while trying to procure a document -- be it a ration card, birth or castecertificate -- from panchayat or block offices. No more, for the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) is forging ahead with its plan to set up legal aid clinics (LACs) of permanent nature...