Vilas Bhagwan Pote grins as he recalls his election as sarpanch of Ralegan Siddhi, Anna Hazare’s village in Ahmednagar district, 11 years ago. “I was the traitor, the bad guy,” he jokes. “I openly defied Anna because I felt he was wrong.” Pote, a Dalit charmakar (cobbler) then in his 30s, had been unhappy as the 2000 Panchayat polls drew close. As always, Anna had nominated a new executive body for the...
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For first time, Dalits of Madurai village vote in local body polls by D Karthikeyan
They could vote freely in Lok Sabha and Assembly elections but had to plead and fight for their right to exercise their franchise in local body polls. The Dalits (Pallars) of Gramapatti village in Kovilankulam Panchayat under Chellampatti Panchayat union near here finally got to vote in the Panchayat elections for the first time in four decades. According to a section of the Dalits, the local elite's dominance, in the form of...
More »Women in India: Bringing in the Other Half by Sruthi Gottipatti and Nikhila Gill
When put in charge, women in India are better than men at providing clean water and adequate sanitation for their communities. And despite the gains women have made in the developed world, they’re still doing about as much of the housework and childcare as women in India. The World Bank’s recently released 2012 World Development Report on gender equality and development shows progress in some areas, while in others gaps in...
More »Orissa: NREGA Job card holders protest by Kahnu Nanda
Jagatsinghpur: As many as one hundred NREGA job card holders from Baramunduli Panchayat under Balikuda block on Tuesday staged Dharana in front of Balikuda block office protesting delay in getting wage. Report said that a road project Baghaipur to Jainla was under taken in NREGA, about 300 selected job card holders had deployed in the work ironically after completion of the work the job card holders are yet to get...
More »Churn in Muslim community over Wahabi charge by Vidya Subrahmaniam
Maulana Syed Mohammad Ashraf Kachochavi is the General Secretary of the All-India Ulama & Mashaikh Board (AIUMB), a Sufi sect that came from nowhere to take Moradabad — and the Muslim world — by storm last week. Soft-spoken and gentle, with long robes and a flowing beard, he fits the part of the Sufi cleric to perfection. Yet on stage at the Sufi Maha Panchyat, he roared like a lion, hurling...
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