The need for the media to take voluntary, not paid, ownership of creating awareness for better participation of voters in the election process was recommended at a roundtable on the “Role of media in building voters' awareness” here on Friday. The recommendation was part of a national consultation on voters' participation organised by the Election Commission (EC). Other roundtables at the consultation pertained to fighting urban apathy, connecting with youth in...

Monday’s polling to Kerala’s first all-tribal panchayat, damalakkudy, in Idukki district would be marked in history for the elborate preparations underway to get a reclusive tribal community to participate in democracy. Edamalakkudy, 38 km from Munnar hill station, has no motorable road, no power or communication network. There are 700-odd families of Muthuvan Scheduled Tribe, which live in small settlements at Edamalakkudy, situated amidst dense forest. To fill the communication gap at the...

KEY TRENDS   • During 2014-15, while procurement of foodgrains (rice and wheat) increased from 56.9 million tonnes to 60.2 million tonnes, offtake of foodgrains (rice and wheat) from the PDS decreased from 59.8 million tonnes to 55.9 million tonnes. Despite increased availability in the PDS and prevalence of high inflation in foodgrains, dependence on the PDS is reducing, suggesting that there may be issues of availability, timely availability and quality of the PDS foodgrains...