Of late, there has been a debate on whether public programmes such as school education, scholarships, health-care delivery and access to microcredit can be targeted at beneficiaries based on religion; some consider this ‘unconstitutional' and argue that it amounts to discrimination. I highlight the constitutional provisions and argue that there is nothing in the Constitution which bars identification of beneficiaries based on religion. Religious identity is listed on a par...

-DNA   The proposed Prevention of Communal and Violence Bill is being pushed with an objective to check communal violence across the country. But the Dalits and minorities, who are often soft targets of communal violence, are sceptical about the Bill. They are wondering if it is a ploy to polarise the system instead of tackling the root cause that triggers unrest in the society. “I have apprehensions that the Bill would make...

With the National Integration Council discussing the Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence Bill drafted by the National Advisory Council (NAC), the consensus against the legislation has been consolidated. Till then, the charge had been led primarily by the archetypal minority bashers, the constituents of the Sangh Parivar, who refused to acknowledge the uncomfortable truth about communal and targeted violence — that it is minorities and Dalits who bear the...

Anna Hazare's campaign may lead to a new Lokpal Bill, but it has legitimised middle-class vigilantism and other kinds of civil society mobilisation. NOW that Anna Hazare has declared victory, it is time to take stock of one of the most powerful recent mobilisations of people in India, focussed on influencing policy or lawmaking processes. The victory, however, is largely symbolic. The original demand of the movement, carefully built around Hazare's...

There is now a fourth Lokpal draft that the standing committee may need to consider. A delegation led by Udit Raj, chairman of theAll India Confederation of SC/ST Organisations, will meet Abhishek Singhvi, chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on law and justice to hand over a copy of the Bahujan Lokpal Bill - their version of the legislation for an anti-corruption ombudsman. The bill, according to Raj, will address...