-The Hindu People’s objections, from Chhattisgarh to Odisha, against large development projects have brought out the real power of the Forest Rights Act of 2006. Democracy is alive and kicking in India. No, I am not referring to the Assembly elections. It is unfortunate that the term democracy has been reduced to the drama of periodic elections and the subsequent reliance of the electorate on politicians and bureaucrats. When these powerful few...
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Laws prescribing educational qualifications for contesting elections are undemocratic -Christophe Jaffrelot
-The Indian Express In Haryana, a new law makes it mandatory for a general male candidate to pass Class X and a general woman candidate to pass Class VIII Politicians’ educational qualifications seems to be a major issue in India today. On the one hand, Arvind Kejriwal has asked for more evidence that Prime Minister Narendra Modi got his BA degree Delhi University, and on the other, documents pertaining to Union...
More »Poll-bound states report surge in MGNREGA job numbers -Shalini Nair and Harish Damodaran
-The Financial Express West Bengal, Assam and Tamil Nadu — states that are currently in assembly elections mode — have registered huge spurt in job numbers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Generation Act (MGNREGA). West Bengal, where the Trinamool Congress under Mamata Banerjee is fighting to retain power, saw a record 28.66 crore person-days of employment being generated under MGNREGA during the year ended March 31, 2016. This represented a...
More »Gujarat panchayat member loses post for flouting 2-child norm
-The Times of India AHMEDABAD: Upholding the two-child norm for panchayat candidates, the Gujarat high court has disqualified a taluka panchayat member who was elected last year and whose fourth child was born eight years ago but had died just five days after his birth. Mahesh Parmar was elected to Thasra taluka panchayat in local body elections last year but after a few months, another contestant brought to the notice of the...
More »School in parched Bengal’s Jangalmahal: 10 toilets for 60 girls, not a drop of water -Aniruddha Ghosal
-The Indian Express The 10 toilets were built in three spurts — four toilets each were inaugurated before the 1999 and 2005 Assembly elections, when the Left Front was in power. Sahari (Binpur): Two classrooms, 60 students and 10 toilets for girls — none of which is functional. This is Sahari Primary School at Binpur, an assembly segment in Jangalmahal reserved for tribals. Like clockwork, politicians have turned up here before...
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