The communal violence bill prepared by the National Advisory Council (NAC) seeks fundamentally to change how the government deals with violence against minorities. The bill focuses on religious and linguistic minorities as well the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, but religious minorities are at its heart. The bill has some undeniable strengths, but it suffers from two analytically fatal flaws. First, it places excessive faith in the state machinery. Though...

-The Business Standard   The All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Rahul Gandhi today said he would back the Posco project if the steel major provided proper rehabilitation else he would throw his weight behind the agitating people. “Posco project will bring development. We are not against development. If Posco provides proper rehabilitation, we will be with Posco. If it fails, we will be with the agitating people,” he said while...

The challenge is to acknowledge the inappropriateness of the current health education and delivery systems, and refashion health care delivery relevant for the country. The confluence of recent events is an opportunity to rethink health systems. The new Medical Council of India, the proposed Human Resources in Health Bill, the penultimate year of the National Rural Health Mission, preparations for the 12th Five Year Plan and the promise of a significant...

In contrast to the 1990s, when age-old matters of identity drove electoral Politics, it appears that development-related issues such as land acquisition and law and order will play a critical role in the contentious campaign for the UP elections due next year. While this can be attributed to the BSP’s “sarvajan” agenda, it also signals the impact of the market economy and the need to attract private investment, which has...

-The Economic Times The Supreme Court's July 5 ruling asking the government of Chhattisgarh to disband its so-called Special Police Officers has a bearing on the entire conduct of anti-insurgency operations across the country. The Union government as well as state governments will do well to take this fully on board, to avoid further raps from the judiciary. At the operational level, the Court has delegitimised and demobilised the armed bands...