"The Earth upon which the sea, and the rivers and waters, upon which food and the tribes of man have arisen, upon which this breathing, moving life exists, shall afford us precedence in drinking." - Prithvi Sukta, Atharva Veda Land is life. It is the basis of livelihoods for peasants and indigenous people across the Third World and is also becoming the most vital asset in the global economy. As the...

-BBC   The Indian government has approved an ambitious scheme to provide affordable housing to millions of slum dwellers. The plan is expected to benefit 32 million people in 250 cities and aims to give property rights to the owners of the houses built under the scheme. A cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, has approved the first phase of the scheme, Home Minister P Chidambaram said. The scheme aims to check...

Using India’s populist Right to Information process gives citizens about as good a chance of receiving basic services as paying a bribe does, providing a new, and surprising weapon in the war against corruption. Two doctoral candidates in political science at Yale University recruited slum dwellers in Delhi and asked them to apply for a “ration card,” which allows people living below the poverty line to buy food at subsidized prices....

The farmers' agitation in Uttar Pradesh brings into focus the indiscriminate acquisition of land by the state for corporate-led development. ON May 19, three days before the formal observation of the second anniversary of the United Progressive Alliance government, Congress president and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi made a categorical announcement that in the monsoon session of Parliament scheduled to begin in July the ruling coalition would bring in legislation that...

P.V. RAJAGOPAL and Ekta Parishad, the non-governmental organisation he leads, have been championing the cause of land and forest rights of tribal and Dalit communities over the past two decades. The organisation is committed to non-violent, Gandhian forms of struggle and has recorded a number of success stories in ensuring and legitimising the land rights of deprived people, particularly in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar and Orissa. In this interview to...