At least two cases of hunger deaths have been reported from Jabalpur district of MP and Chittorgarh district of Rajasthan in the past few weeks. The two states are run by different political parties-- the BJP and the Congress-- but there is quite a lot common in the victims’ circumstances. Both families were among the poorest in their villages but were not included in the BPL list and both the...

Is there a breakdown of rule of law and the Constitutional order in Chhattisgarh? Some of India’s most respected civil society organisations certainly think so, though the State Government disagrees. Several citizens’ organisations have written to the authorities, the courts and even the Prime Minister, about police excesses during the ongoing Operation Green-hunt that the government forces, their paramilitaries and vigilantes have waged on the armed Maoists. (See links below)...

A new fund managed by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) today announced over $9 million in grants to support initiatives in 26 countries to empower women, ranging from boosting their political participation in Bosnia and Herzegovina to assisting those denied inheritance and property rights in Afghanistan. The Fund for Gender Equality is a $68 million multilateral initiative, currently funded by the Governments of Spain and Norway, designed...

Why do poor people in rural areas vote when they know the whole system is against them? JEAN DRÈZE talks to some voters and observes the voting process during the recent Assembly elections in Latehar district, Jharkhand, and comes away with some pointers...  At one booth (Rankikalan, Booth No. 69) a BJP activist was trying to influence voters before they entered the booth, under the guise of helping them. Latehar...

Seven months into its second innings in power, UPA-2’s report card on key target schemes is just about average. Initiatives like Rajiv Awas Yojana are yet to be fully formulated while some others like the western dedicated rail corridor are stalled and a few other schemes are suffering from end-user glitches. A year-end review of flagship programmes, now scanned by PMO’s delivery monitoring unit apart from Cabinet Secretariat, has highlighted...