-Press release by Right to Food Campaign, Jharkhand chapter, dated 26th May, 2020 Following the first round of quick survey of essential facilities in rural areas of Jharkhand that was conducted during the first week of April 2020, a second round of survey was done in the second and third week of May this year by members (called "observers") of the Right to Food Campaign, state chapter. Like the previous one,...

-The Hindu Kerala and Karnataka have shown how democratic decentralisation has worked in their favour Mahatma Gandhi envisioned that a free India would rest on a foundation of gram Panchayats, village republics that governed locally and epitomised Swaraj in practice. B.R. Ambedkar was sceptical; he described the caste-ridden, unequal village society as a cesspool. Yet, he was not unequivocally against decentralisation. Locally relevant initiatives The 73rd Constitutional Amendment mandates the constitution of Panchayats at...

-The Indian Express Mani Shankar Aiyar writes: Planning for withstanding the ingress of COVID-19 requires the full deployment of the mechanisms for district planning envisaged in Article 243 ZD involving all three tiers of the Panchayats and the municipalities brought together in the district planning committee An unintended but welcome consequence of the struggle against COVID-19 is that the “confrontational federalism” that has characterised the Centre’s relations with the states, especially those...

These days a lot many articles, reports, documents, etc. are appearing in the public domain on Coronavirus infection and related issues. An attempt has been made in the present news alert to put together in one place some of the best articles, reports, blogs, webinars, podcasts, etc., which can be useful for our readers. We have divided the resources under various themes for the convenience of our readers and social media...

-ThePrint.in Once again, the prolonged period of Covid-19 pandemic crisis will shine the light on India’s state capacity. But should India depend only on its elite bureaucracy? As India completes the first week of its 21-day nationwide lockdown to battle the spread of the Covid-19 virus, it is increasingly clear that the worst is not over yet. If not another round of lockdown, India may witness at least similar measures that will...