-The Indian Express The Rajasthan government has muscled through an ordinance to disqualify its uneducated citizens from contesting the coming panchayat polls - only those who have studied till Class VIII are eligible to stand for election on the general seats. That's a remarkable change in a country where the Constitution allows anyone above the age of 25, irrespective of sex, caste or education, to contest elections to the Lok Sabha...

-The Business Standard Govt suppresses report recommending radical reforms to improve their socio-economic status as it goes against Centre's rapid industrialisation agenda The National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre has suppressed the report of the High-Level Committee on the Status of Tribals. The report presents a scathing analysis of how development activities and strategies in India have increased the socio-economic gulf between tribals and rest of the citizens of India and...

-The Hindustan Times Raipur (Chhattisgarh): Eight poor Gond tribals suddenly find themselves in the spotlight: they are the ‘owners' of 43.7 hectares of land worth several crores of rupees, at Pusaur in Raigarh district of Chhattisgarh. Ironically, they still seek employment under the welfare scheme MGNREGA. The land in question was used for constructing the 600-MW Korba West Power Co Ltd, a coal-fired power plant, by the Avantha (Thapar) group. Last month,...

-The Hindustan Times Sagar (Madhya Pradesh): Habla, a small, nondescript village in Madhya Pradesh's Sagar district is changing, moving away from the pains of a dark past. More than 20 young boys and girls from the village - over 240km from capital city Bhopal - are now pursuing different degrees in Sagar University. More than 40 others travel to neighbouring Naryawli village to attend a higher secondary school. For these boys...

-Frontline The Left and other national parties protest against the NDA government's attempts to dilute the MGNREGS by limiting its budget and reducing its reach. IN a rare show of solidarity, representatives of several political parties took issue with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government on its controversial proposal to restructure the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). The opposition, which was initially confined to the...