Hemant Gupta’s 30,000-tonne capacity godown for storing foodgrain is one of the largest in Ferozepur, Punjab. In 1978, the Food Corporation of India (FCI) hired it on a monthly rent of Rs75,000, or 50 paise per sq. ft—eventually raised to 80 paise per sq. ft. In 2004, Gupta says, FCI abruptly vacated his godown and stocked the grains in the open nearby. “See the rot within FCI,” says an exasperated Gupta. “They...

"India lives in several centuries at the same time. Somehow we manage to progress and regress simultaneously." Arundhati Roy Controversies, protests and violence have marred land acquisition for projects in India. Protests against acquiring agricultural land, inappropriate compensation or environmental impact have been the main reasons for these protests. In most cases, the protests are by farmers who are hardly compensated after their fertile agricultural land is taken over in for...

If you’ve ever bought land, chances are you have a Rolodex of ownership documents, and even that isn’t conclusive proof. The land registry is not sacrosanct; the sale deed — even if registered — isn’t endorsed by the government. If disputes break out, and they frequently do, there is no single ownership document. The only way to do that is to fight a lengthy court battle, spend cash on lawyers,...

For nearly three decades, Selvi V. has lived in a village in the Kanchipuram district of Tamil Nadu, 75km from Chennai, without a toilet. And there really wasn’t any need felt to have one in this family of daily wage farm labourers. Selvi and her now-married daughter would wake up either early every morning or wait until dark to relieve themselves in a thicket of thorny shrubs a little distance...

A recent survey carried out by the TNUEF brings to light details of the discrimination Dalits in Madurai have faced for generations. OVER seven decades have rolled by since the freedom fighter A. Vaidhyanatha Iyer successfully led Dalits into the Meenakshi temple in Madurai, overcoming all the impediments posed by the casteist forces that were hell-bent on thwarting the historic event. But the stark reality is that “hidden apartheid” against...