-The Hindu With the economic boom petering out, those who benefitted from it are angry with the government for the Food Security Bill because it is paying attention to the needs of the underprivileged for a change This week's received wisdom insists that the Indian economy has irretrievably collapsed because on Monday, the Lok Sabha passed the National Food Security Bill (NFSB). The Hindu Business Line headline (Aug.28, page 1) said it...
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Reviving Land Reforms?-Harsh Mander
-Economic and Political Weekly The government has notified a Draft Land Reforms Policy which, on paper, has all the requisites of an earnest programme. Yet, the near total failure of earlier efforts at land reforms in India leave little room for hope that something substantial will at last be done to combat landlessness. Harsh Mander (manderharsh@gmail.com) is with the Centre for Equity Studies, New Delhi, and works with survivors of mass violence,...
More »SC seeks Centre’s response on barring criminals from contesting elections -Dhananjay Mahapatra
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday gave a last opportunity to the Centre to break its long silence over Election Commission's suggestion to ban those facing trial for heinous offences from contesting elections. Almost eight months after it directed the Centre and the EC to "positively" file its response to a PIL seeking a series of directions to ensure that those with criminal track records do not...
More »UPA to bring changes in food bill for wider acceptance in Parliament-Gargi Parsai
-The Hindu The UPA government has decided to bring amendments to the National Food Security Bill to help secure more support for the "game changer" legislation in Parliament. The government may move some of the changes proposed by other political parties, such as the DMK, the BJP and the Left parties, as official amendments. At a meeting of senior Cabinet ministers convened by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday, it was decided that...
More »Fleeing the light -Aruna Roy and Nikhil Dey
-The Hindu Political parties have acted as judge, jury, supplicant and advocate in their move to amend the RTI Act and exempt themselves from its purview. Their rhetoric on transparency is more hollow than ever A friend called the other day, and said: "I want to congratulate all of you in the RTI community, because you have managed to do what no one, and nothing else has managed to for a long...
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