The lesson from the rest of the world is that seat reservation for women to merely increase their representation in the legislature will not do; they need to be empowered in the real sense.  During the debate in Parliament and outside over the Women's Reservation Bill, many people have referred to quota “success stories” worldwide — proposing that India could gain from the experience of about 40 other countries that...

It may still happen. If the Women's Reservation Bill - which was tabled in the Rajya Sabha yesterday amidst chaos and disruption - does actually get passed by both houses of Parliament, it will bring to closure an issue that has been hanging fire for 14 years in national politics. It may even be law in time for the next general elections in the country. Of course, it will be...

Even a decade after the horrific episode in which seven Dalits were burnt alive by “caste” Hindus in Kambalapalli village of Chintamani taluk in the then undivided Kolar district, 66 families of the victims are still struggling to lead a dignified life. The State Government, which relocated the 66 Dalit families at a new hamlet called Mini-Kambalapalli on the outskirts of Chintamani town, has not made good on its promises of...

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...

For most, it would be a step back. But for 30-year-old Chhavi Rajawat, leaving behind corporate glamour and city life to head back to her village Soda, 60km from Jaipur, as its sarpanch has been a journey to her roots. She says she's paying her debt to the village she grew up in. A student of Rishi Valley Bangalore and Lady Shriram College, Rajawat topped up her education with a...