The government's decision to set aside a 20 per cent quota for SC/ST vendors in its purchases, if accepted by every sector on a wider scale, has the potential to makegrowth pro-poor and inclusive. The Central Government has finally announced a policy reserving 20 per cent of its purchases for micro and small enterprises run by entrepreneurs belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes. The new procurement policy will...

The first judgment in a 2002 riots case and the SIT report on the Ishrat Jahan killing go against the Gujarat government. THE verdict in a crucial and long-running case involving a massacre and the investigation report in another case, of alleged encounter killings, both delivered in November, give hope to victims of the 2002 pogrom in Gujarat that they will get justice, even if delayed. In the first case, the special...

With deep pockets and international sourcing capabilities, global retail chains will outcompete domestic players, displace jobs, and undermine livelihoods. In predictable fashion, the Manmohan Singh government chose to ignore voices of opposition and implement its agenda of permitting foreign investment in the retail trade. While Parliament was in session, the Cabinet met to approve the hitherto prohibited foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail, with a cap of 51 per cent on...

Thin, shy and already balding, his glasses threatening to fall off his nose at every movement, Mohammed Mobashshir Sarwar doesn’t quite look the teen rebel. Yet, at 17, he already has 100 Right to Information (RTI) applications under his belt, all directed at his state-run school, whose management he is now battling in high court for expelling him. Man of a few words he may be, but Sarwar has had no problem...

All non-government organizations (NGOs), which receive donations from the public or receive foreign funds in excess of Rs 10 lakh, could come under the ambit of the Lokpal, according to the recommendations of the parliamentary panel on citizens' ombudsman's draft report. Significantly, this provision will allow NGOs run by activists like Anna Hazare, Arvind Kejriwal and Kiran Bedi and other Team Anna members to come under the anti-corruption watchdog.  If accepted...