The ICDS' plight is symptomatic of the problems plaguing the Union government's flagship schemes for the poor all over the country.   INDIA may be the only country in the world where we describe the ensuring of the basic socio-economic rights of the people in terms of “flagship schemes” that are seen as the benevolent contribution of governments. One problem with this approach is that the delivery of basic services is...

A healthcare model relying mainly on people from within the community to provide care is reaping success One of India’s most backward districts and Maharashtra’s worst ranked in human development indicators, Gadchiroli, today finds itself at the forefront of a healthcare revolution that can potentially save millions of infant lives and help India rapidly reduce her abysmal infant mortality rate (IMR). Under the aegis of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), India...

Natives of Niyamgiri feel that the police is acting as an agent of the Vedanta group, playing dirty tricks to help the company go ahead with its plans to mine bauxite from the sacred hills ONE OF the world’s most controversial mines is back in the spotlight after hundreds protested against renewed efforts to mine Odisha’s Niyamgiri Hills. Dongria Kondh and Niyamgiri supporters held their own ‘public hearing’ in Odisha...

-DNA The state government’s proposal to let farmers circumvent the agriculture produce market committees and sell their yield directly to consumers — which essentially means whoever they wish to sell it to — needs to be welcomed even by those of us in the cities who may not be conversant with agricultural practices. While the middlemen who control the APMCs are bound to raise howls of protest about the attempt to overturn...

There has been a veritable deluge of criticism of Mamata and the Trinamool on the arrest of a Jadavpur professor for circulating through email a gentle spoof on Mamata's sacking of the Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi.   From life imitating cartoons to Mamata suffering from certifiable paranoia – this has been the refrain in the mass media. By this single act, Mamata and her regime have subjected themselves to far greater ridicule...