If Uttar Pradesh was to be declared a separate country today, it would be the sixth-largest nation. With a total population at par with Brazil, population density comparable to that of the UK and per-capita income similar to Kenya's, it indicates the paradox of its citizen occupying the same space as his Latin and UK counterparts, yet living in conditions similar to those in Africa. Setting this hypothesis aside, let us...

After being mired in controversies across the nation over multi-crore scams, the MGNREGA scheme hasn’t quite made headway in Bulandshahr district’s Anupshahr yet, say Bhamati Sivapalan and Yamini Deenadayalan “MGNREGA is a flop in Uttar Pradesh,” extended NGO worker Manish Sharma, as small talk, at the block development office of Anupshahr in the Bulandshahr district of Uttar Pradesh. Despite having been in force since 2005, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment...

The promotion of the PDS as an Aadhaar application would fundamentally alter its form and character. NO scheme of the Indian government would be transformed more fundamentally by Aadhaar than the public distribution system (PDS). The nature of this transformation appears to be taking the form of a virtual dismantling of the PDS; even if a skeletal fair price shop (FPS, or ration shop) system continues to exist, it is likely...

But existing campaign should be built around land, water, forests: activist P.V. Rajagopal Narmada Bachao Andolan leader and Team Anna core committee member Medha Patkar on Tuesday said there was no move to start a parallel anti-corruption movement. She was reacting to a news story inThe Hindu quoting renowned water conservationist Rajendra Singh about the possibility of a new anti-corruption group emerging, following a meeting of water sector workers at the Gandhi...

While Rahul Gandhi spoke of a woman delivering a baby once a week and 52 times a year in Uttar Pradesh according to the official record of the Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) on Monday, Youth Congress men in Lucknow were busy preparing an exhibition of glaring cases of corruption in the scheme at their state office.   The exhibition, based on an audit conducted in 12 blocks, is expected to start on...