Tensions run high within the Christian community in Thachur village, and the government has adopted a hands-off approach for now. THE wrinkles on S. Royappan's face are a result of advancing age, but the ridges and furrows in them tell a story of humiliation of this Dalit Christian, as also others like him. Royappan, 82, was a bonded labourer, or padiyaal, in Thachur village in Tamil Nadu's Kancheepuram district, but...
More »SEARCH RESULT
Total Matching Records found : 1790
NAC to counter Rangarajan panel's criticism of its recommendations by Smita Gupta
Key issue will be legal guarantees for food entitlements for “general” category In what looks like more trouble for the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC) has decided to take head on the Rangarajan committee's criticism of its now-controversial recommendations on food security. It will take the first step by presenting a point-by-point rebuttal of the panel's critique to the new Food Minister, K.V. Thomas, on...
More »Post office is out of bounds to us, say Dalits by Anisha Sheth
It is located in a separate building on the residential premises of the postmaster Dalits forced to transact from outside ‘If we try to enter the post office, they block the door' Seventy five-year-old Bailu has never set foot in the post office in her village in Betlhangady taluk for fear of being thrown out. Dalits of Melanthabettu village, located about 6 km from Belthangady, say they are denied entry into the post...
More »Hand over PDS to village panchayats by Mani Shankar Aiyar
Fundamentally, our current crisis in food supplies as well as food prices arises out of the sidelining of Jawahar Lal Nehru’s dictum “everything else can wait but not agriculture”. Unfortunately, the last twenty years have been characterised by very low rates of agricultural growth, averaging around one percent per annum. This is almost equal to the rate of GDP growth during the last half century of British rule. In effect, in...
More »Planning Commission to delink tribal welfare from security by Smita Gupta
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...
More »
