Nandkumar Naitam is relieved after a month of “torturous” anxiety. “I thought it over again and again,” the 20-year-old tribal youth says. “I thought that if I couldn’t get a rifle, I’d pick up my traditional weapon, the bow-and-arrow.” It was a desperation that Nandu, as he is fondly called, shared with his 5,000-odd fellow special police officers (SPOs), who till a month ago formed the Chhattisgarh government’s frontline against the Maoists...

The implementation of the landmark legislation to provide free and compulsory education to children between six and 14 years of age this year onwards has become a tough task for the administration. The Right to Education (RTE) Act mandates private educational institutions to reserve 25 per cent seats for children from weaker sections of the society. But a state human resource development (HRD) department report has revealed that none of the...

It’s been raining “rights” in Indian policy for the last few years — education, work, food, service, healthcare, and much else. This “Diet Coke” approach to poverty reduction — the sweetness without the calories — was always dangerous because of unknown side effects. Commenting in 1790 on the consequences of the French Revolution, Edmund Burke said: “They have found their punishment in their success. Laws overturned, tribunals subverted, industry without...

RV Gumaste, a member of Kirloskar’s project team that set up Bellary’s first iron-making unit in 1994, has never seen such times since he first moved base from Pune 17 years ago. “We will take the burden for our regular employees for some time. But how long?” says the industry veteran, who was appointed Managing Director of Kirloskar Ferrous Industries Ltd in July 2003. The Rs 1,100-crore company has 800...

Less than a week after India announced a record harvest, Hindustan Times has learnt that the nation’s main grain-buying agency is running out of money for its massive nationwide purchase operation. Over the last month, the state-run Food Corporation of India (FCI) has twice stopped payments to state governments, various grain-purchasing agencies and rice millers who buy wheat and rice, the main food crops, from millions of farmers, a senior...