How deluded we are when we think that when an important piece of legislation is introduced, policymakers carefully scrutinise it for some room for improvement. Indian democracy is good at passing progressive-sounding legislation that becomes unpopular later for poor implementation and a consequent feeling of letdown and therefore resentment. Often the problems of poor implementation that surface later stem from small mistakes in design that could have been corrected at...

-The Indian Express   When it comes to Team Anna and the stage, the symbol has always signified as much as the substance. So Sunday’s gathering at New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar featuring Anna Hazare flanked by politicians from the CPM and CPI to the BJP, Samajwadi Party, JD(U), TDP, BJD and the Akali Dal, was a significant one. While this may be a shrewd self-unmasking of Team Anna’s apolitical veneer, elevating the...

From the beginning of the proceedings today, speakers from Team Anna appeared to be pressing home one point above all: they had returned to Jantar Mantar with an agenda larger than the (Jan) Lokpal. The Bill must be passed this winter session, or else there would be a “jail bharo aandolan”, said Anna. “Not a single jail will remain empty,” he promised. But the larger goal was another law, or...

Thousands of people came out in support of Anna Hazare's day-long fast at Jantar Mantar. However, there was no dearth of dissenting views either.  The All India Confederation of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Organizations protested near the venue, demanding representation for minorities in the Lokpal committee. Their views were echoed in the speeches of leaders of CPI (M) and Samajwadi Party among others, who participated in a debate organized by...

Our democracy is creaking, but it works—nominally at least. What it needs is not dilution, but deepening. When “Too Much democracy” Works     Pressure in Parliament pushes PM Manmohan Singh to secure the resignation of telecom minister A. Raja in the 2G affair     The angst and trials of tribals in the Maoist bastion of Dantewada is sensed in Delhi after the media highlights their plight     People power at the sites of...