The burgeoning movement against corruption set off by social activist Anna Hazare appears to be turning into an undemocratic battle for power without votes or elections, sections of Indian economists and sociologists have said. Tens of thousands of Indians across the country have pledged their alliance with the movement led by Hazare —from schoolchildren yanked by teachers out of classes to slogan-shouting municipal workers, from preachers to actors to lawyers. But some...

Two companies based in Mumbai and Delhi have allegedly duped scores of farmers of more than 2,000 bigha of agricultural land spread across several villages near Phalodi town in Jodhpur district. In one case, the entire land of Mandali village measuring 632 bigha, belonging mostly to the Rebari tribe, has been sold. Though the district administration has ordered an inquiry, complicity of officials is not ruled out since the land was...

Andhra Pradesh will be the first state to use National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) funds to provide road connectivity and improve hygienic conditions in remote areas inhabited by Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe people. Rural connectivity has now been included in the permissible category of works under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA). Following this, the state government decided to spend Rs 1,000 crore from NREGS funds to...

Anna Hazare’s fast puts into focus the government’s attempts to protect politicians India Against Corruption, a group formed by Anna Hazare and other social activists and former judges, has given 17 reasons why the Jan Lokpal Bill drafted by former Supreme Court judge Santosh Hegde, now the Karnataka Lokayukta, is far better than the Bill prepared by the union government. The Jan Lokpal Bill, hailed as a civil society initiative, provides for...

The BJP on Tuesday appealed to noted social activist Anna Hazare to end his fast unto death agitation in support of the demand for enactment of Lokpal Bill and asked the government to hold an all-party meeting to discuss the subject. BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said in a statement that the government must hold a dialogue with activists and an all-party meeting to take prompt for creating an institution to...