In the end, Gangula Tadangi succumbed to tuberculosis. The Kondh Adivasi’s life could have been saved if he had made it to the hospital on time. But he was in judicial custody at Koraput district jail in southern Odisha for allegedly “waging war against the Indian State”. During his last moments, Tadangi, 25, is said to have whispered something in Kondh. But nobody could make out anything because no one...

This is the first time that the Planning Commission has sought engagement of the civil society NGOs have given suggestions for previous Five Year PlansConsultations on various topics plannedThe Planning Commission is involving leading non-governmental organisations and civic society, seeking their inputs, suggestions and experiences, for preparing its approach paper for the 12 {+t} {+h} Five Year Plan (2012-17), which will be the base document for the Plan itself.Though NGOs had...

DALIT THEOLOGY IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY — Discordant Voices, Discerning Pathways: Edited by Sathianathan Clarke, Deenbandhu Manchala, Philip Vinod Peacock; Oxford University Press, YMCA Library Building, Jai Singh Road, New Delhi-110001. Rs. 745. Although Christian missionaries of various denominations have been active in India for several centuries, the 1941 Census placed the number of Christians in colonial India at just 1.6 per cent of the population. This clearly indicates that the...

Dalit activist Meena Kandasamy: This is something that has to be changed Dalits make up more than 16% of India's population of one billion. Yet, despite years of campaigning and state intervention, many of them still face discrimination in society. Their hardship has been highlighted at an exhibition in London. A little girl leans against a stained turquoise concrete wall. You first notice her face, which appears deep in thought - then your...

Every answer to question on Nitish Kumar's performance in the last five years as Bihar's chief minister begins with the phrase, ''Kam se kam itna toh kiya hai... (at the very least, he has done this...).''   By any index of growth and development, Nitish's five-year reign has unleashed no miracles. With 54.4% of its population under the Tendulkar Committee's revised poverty line, Bihar is India's poorest state and its health indicators...