Nearly a dozen Dalit families have left this village in the last 15 days as last year's violence in Mirchpur has come back to haunt them. It was here that a 70-year-old and his physically-challenged daughter were killed in an attack by the dominant Jat community. The fear of violence from Jats, who have over the past 12 days staged protests demanding the release of those arrested for the incident in...

The National Advisory Council (NAC) had been widely credited with framing three pro-people legislations — the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), the Right to Information (RTI) and the Forest Rights Act — under the UPA 1 government. So when NAC 2 began discussions on the Food Security Act in mid-2010, expectations were high. The initial vision of an act with a universal public distribution system (PDS), extensive children's entitlements...

Amit Jethwa had just left his lawyer’s office after discussing a lawsuit he had filed to stop an illicit limestone quarry with ties to powerful local politicians. That is when the assassins struck, speeding out of the darkness on a roaring motorbike, pistols blazing. He died on the spot, blood pouring from his mouth and nose. He was 38. Mr. Jethwa was one of millions of Indians who had embraced...

High rate of infanticide and mortality call for social awareness and policy reforms While India leaves no stone unturned in its unrelenting quest for global economic dominance, it would behove it to pause for a moment and address the issue of infanticide and child mortality. In this detail the cup can be seen as half empty. A burning desire for male children in India, according to a member of the National Human...

The Planning Commission has decided to disown the Integrated Action Plan (IAP) for Selected Tribal and Backward Districts that it authored and was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) — in a vastly amended form — in November last. Currently being implemented in 60 Left wing extremist (LWE)-affected districts, the plan was watered down by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) before it received the CCEA nod. Having...