In India peasantry is under assault. There is a five-pronged attack on this class and the mighty Indian state is sometimes an active and sometimes a passive abettor. The first point of attack is from the corporate sector. The corporate sector is in a land grab mode. Though not justified, one could understand their urge to get land for industry and real estate purposes. Not that they are causing aggressive...

"We live on a day-to-day basis," Suraj says, as the faint sound of hammering echoes across the village. "What we earn is what we spend on our families in a day." In Ganne, just off the main road about an hour south of the city of Allahabad, this is a simple fact of life. It is home to members of a poor tribal community, who live in small huts clustered around...

The earnings of India’s rural households increased by 45% in two years, thanks to the Union government’s flagship job guarantee scheme, says the rural development ministry, which oversees the scheme. The ministry says the figures are based on an independent study it had commissioned, but experts claim the scheme hasn’t been as successful on the ground as the study suggests. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, or MGNREGA, promises at...

Politics runs the risk of being reduced to the art of the passable — it has to be approved by the legislature, by the omniscient television anchors, by sulking editorial writers forced to cede ground to the TV anchors, and, most crucially , by Sonia Gandhi. The food security Bill was drafted for Ms Gandhi’s favour and has been shafted by her displeasure. Food security, hostage, in any case, to...

U.N. report says this will consolidate the region's economic recovery  Even in crisis, Asia-Pacific still the fastest-growing region Increased social spending directly supports income security for households A United Nations report has called upon governments in the Asia-Pacific region to increase social spending to consolidate the region's stronger than anticipated economic rebound and to spur over the long term a fairer, more balanced, and sustained economic recovery. The Economic and Social Survey of...