-The Times of India CHANDIGARH: Crimes and atrocities against Dalits in Haryana have gone up by about two-and-a-half times during 2004-2013, compared to 1994-2003 period. Figures complied by National Confederation of Dalit Organizations (NACDOR) from National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) reports suggest amanifold increase in the number of cases related to assault, murder and sexual assault of Dalit women, especially incidents of gang rapes, over the past four years. According to data released...

-The Times of India RANCHI: Right to food campaign, conglomerate of NGOs working for implementation of Food Security Act (FSA), had demanded the state government to restart 'Dal-bhaat' scheme under which special outlets were opened by the state government to provide 'Dal-bhaat' at cheap rate. The campaign activists convened their state-level meeting here on Sunday to discuss various aspects of the FSA and draw a comprehensive plan to intensify their stir,...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: During poll season, every political party's heart beats for the farmer. While AAP's Arvind Kejriwal brought out figures of farmer suicides in Gujarat, Narendra Modi repeatedly lamented about farmer suicides under UPA regime. However, a look at government data on farmer suicides since 1995 to 2012 shows that no party has succeeded in putting a stop to this scourge. In fact, in its previous stint in...

-The Business Standard The Punjab experience suggests rising agricultural productivity doesn't automatically translate into better jobs,but the story doesn't end there. A recent paper on the post-Green revolution economic transition of Punjab's peasantry, published by Punjab Agricultural University professors Sukhpal Singh and Shruti Bhogal, suggests that increasing productivity of rural workers is only one part of the agriculture to manufacturing transition. Punjab has the most mechanized agricultural sector in the country,...

-Down to Earth Blog The performance of nutrition indicators amongst Dalits is improving, it is nowhere near the catch-up pace Does a new government and a strong Prime Minister claiming to hail from the backward caste augur Achche Din for Dalits too? We hope so! But political commitment-or lack of it-has multiple manifestations. In a deeply stratified society like India with entrenched elitism, people from the Scheduled Caste (referred to as Dalits...