Salman Khurshid’s proposal to send law school graduates to remote districts for a year should also benefit those who need free legal aid THE UNION law ministry’s proposal to send students to practice for a year in far-flung districts of the country after finishing studies is an excellent idea — and long overdue. But it can be a progressive move only if it is thought through properly. Ways have to be...

Several upper-caste children have allegedly refused midday meals prepared by Dalit cooks in an Andhra school, sparking fears that one of UPA’s key welfare schemes could be turning into a platform to perpetuate caste prejudices. The authorities of the Zilla Parishad School at Sundaragiri in Karimnagar — slain Maoist leader Kishan’s home district — have alleged that the children turning down the food are being goaded by their elders, including some...

A state-run temple in BJP-ruled Karnataka has lifted a ban on a ritual in which backward castes roll on banana leaves with food leftovers of Brahmins believing they will be “blessed”, sparking an outcry. Groups representing lower castes, academicians and social activists have described the decision by the authorities of the Kukke Subrahmanya Temple to revive made snana (bath in leftovers) as abominable and uncivilised. Over 3,000 people have gone through the...

Minority welfare schemes should target not districts but smaller units like hamlets and urban wards so that nobody passes under the radar, Sonia Gandhi’s National Advisory Council has told the Centre. The Centre’s 15-point programme for minorities, based on Sachar Committee recommendations, aims at multi-sector development in 90 districts with large minority populations. But the council believes this approach misses many who most need help while many non-minority residents reap indirect...

Manish Kumar could not take it any more. The harassment he had been suffering for three years only because he was a Dalit was showing no signs of abating. So, the IIT Roorkee student killed himself. That was on February 13 this year. Manish had been a third-year BTech student and was the only hope of his family, his shattered father Rajinder Kumar said. “Manish was my only son and the future...