-The Hindu Conversations between governments and citizens and among citizens themselves are crucial in a Democracy A very instructive passage on the difference in norms of debate among ancient Indian scholars, on the one hand, and kings and their subjects, on the other is found in the ancient text, Milinda-pañha. It records an exchange between the Indo-Greek king Milinda (Menander) and the Buddhist monk N?gasena. When the king fails to understand a point...

-The Hindu Local governments remain hamstrung and ineffective — mere agents to do the bidding of higher level governments Democratic decentralisation is barely alive in India. Over 25 years after the 73rd and 74th constitutional amendments (they mandated the establishment of panchayats and municipalities as elected local governments) devolved a range of powers and responsibilities and made them accountable to the people for their implementation, very little and actual progress has been...

-TheNewsMinute.com Multiple reports have been delayed (for short or long periods of time) or not released under the Modi government. Data is considered the most precious resource, and it appears that the Indian government does want to keep it under wraps. Crime Statistics by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) haven’t been released since 2016, the controversial Periodic Labour Force Survey was delayed and released after the elections (and also ruffled...

-The Indian Express What can government schools do? Make Democracy work. If you are reading this piece, it is likely your child goes to an English-medium private school. Did the possibility of a government school occur to you? Did you consider it before deciding on the private school? When I pose this question to my friends, this is the usual refrain: “But they are of such poor quality, insufficient classrooms, inadequate teachers....

-The Indian Express As legal scholar Gautam Bhatia put it in Transformative Constitution, Justice Khanna’s dissent would constitute a “contrapuntal” or something that appears as a counterpoint, often solitary, against the tide at the time, but something that conceals the kernel of the future and the way ahead, which lives on to speak forcefully, another day. Costa Gavras’ 1982 film Missing is a haunting story of what a military dictatorship does...