The Chhattisgarh model offers some key lessons on how to make the public distribution system deliverProbably the only thing extraordinary about Manglu is that he is the perfect example of an ordinary tribal. The 60-year-old belongs to the Pahadi Korba tribe and lives in Govindpur village of Sarguja district of Chhattisgarh. He best represents what modern India calls a below poverty line (BPL) beneficiary of various government schemes. Manglu earns...

Many poverty-hit tribals in Chhattisgarh are asking why they shouldn't become Maoists and take up arms, pointing to the latest incident in which two civilians were branded rebels and shot dead by police. The traumatised residents of the Koleng area of Bastar district are at a loss over the killings of their co-villagers by police early this week and say the two had simply gone to collect rations for others from...

Worried over crop losses and mounting loans, two farmers committed suicide and four others died of shock in the state in the last 24 hours. Apparao, 55, consumed pesticide at his residence in Kapuumilada village in Santabommali mandal of Srikakulam on Tuesday. He was depressed after his three-acre crop was damaged in the rains. He took the land on lease and cultivated paddy. V Krishna Murthy, 52, a marginal farmer of Vanjagi...

The “Ranchiwallas” are on the warpath in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.These tribals from Jharkhand’s Chhotanagpur region, 400 of whom were first shipped to the islands by the British way back in 1918 to build roads, are demanding scheduled tribe status with job and education benefits under the C and D categories.They have made it clear they are not seeking full reservation under the A and B categories — free...

Over the past two decades, Maharashtra’s leaders and caretakers have carefully steered it from being India’s most progressive and forward-looking state to lying on the verge of becoming one of India’s most backward.This is no mean achievement. Mumbai, as is well known, contributes close to 40% of the nation’s direct taxes. In 2003-2004, Maharashtra’s net state domestic product was second only to Haryana’s and the gross domestic product was 13%...