In the name of God, hapless girls are still being made to become devadasis which in stark terms means being raped by the priests, secretly auctioned to brothels and finally dying of AIDS. Deebashree Mohanty speaks to a few of these unfortunate women who died everyday of their life for a farce called service of the God I was nine when I got married to my village deity Yellamma. The mahajan,...

Mahesh Kundu paid 2,500 rupees for a driving licence, Rupam Bhatia 5,000 rupees to be admitted to hospital and Vishrant Chandra 6,000 rupees for a marriage certificate. These are the commonplace bribery stories experienced by middle-class Indians who have poured into the streets to say "enough is enough". Corruption in India is as old as the Ramayana, when the evil demon Ravana bribed a guardian of hell to avoid punishment in...

A group of people, with placards showing Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, staged a demonstration in Delhi a few days ago against Anna Hazare's proposals on the Lokpal and the methods used by his team. More often than not, Dalits look with suspicion on any attempt to tamper with the Constitution. Team Anna has, however, suggested that its Lokpal bill would benefit Dalits more than anyone else. This led me to look...

Garhwali villagers resist new central farming plans, stick by age-old ways attuned to nature Jardhargaon is a sprawling cluster of villages tucked away in the Himalayan folds in Tehri district of Garhwal. A panoramic view of pine- and sal-covered mountains, green and freshly showered, surrounds us, as little streams spout out of boulders at every turn of the winding hill roads and clouds hang like a dark cover overhead. But...

Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Monday urged Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh to consider including the rearing of animals, dairy and coir industries, and water management under the ambit of jobs provided in the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Act (MGNREGA). He wanted the Centre to include livelihood schemes, housing, and toilet construction in the list of works that could be undertaken under the MGNREGA. Mr. Chandy, who met Mr. Ramesh...