A survey of the Supreme Court’s docket finds a court overwhelmed by petitions from those with money and resources. THE Indian Supreme Court has a reputation for being a “people’s court” or, as one judge put it, a “last resort for the oppressed and bewildered”. The Constitution gives all Indians the right to petition directly the Supreme Court if their fundamental rights are violated and the right to appeal to...
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Farm suicides: a 12-year saga by P Sainath
In 2006-08, Maharashtra saw 12, 493 farm suicides. That is 85 per cent higher than the 6,745 suicides it recorded during 1997-1999. And the worst three-year period for any State, any time. The loan waiver year of 2008 saw 16,196 farm suicides in the country, according to the National Crime Records Bureau. Compared to 2007, that’s a fall of just 436. As economist Professor K. Nagaraj who has worked in-depth on...
More »Nearly 2 lakh farm suicides since 1997 by P Sainath
Over two-thirds in ‘suicide belt’ of five States, more than one-fifth in Maharashtra There were at least 16,196 farmers’ suicides in India in 2008, bringing the total since 1997 to 199,132, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). The share of the Big 5 States or ‘suicide belt’ in 2008 — Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh — remained very high at 10,797, or 66.6 per cent...
More »‘Take micro-level steps to prevent farmers’ suicides’ by J Venkatesan
Expressing serious concern over the increasing incidents of suicide by farmers due to starvation, poverty and other reasons, the Supreme Court on Monday asked the Centre to come out with mirco-level steps to prevent such suicides across the country, particularly in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. A three-judge Bench comprising Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, Justice R.V. Raveendran and Justice Deepak Verma granted six weeks to the Centre...
More »Has India's poorest state turned the corner? by Amarnath Tewary
Has India's poorest and most lawless state turned the corner? If you believe the government of the northern state of Bihar, the answer appears to be in the affirmative. According to it, Bihar clocked up a giddy growth rate of 11.03% in 2008-2009. This would make it India's second fastest growing state economy, just behind the industrially-developed western state of Gujarat. Not so long ago, Bihar was written off as a...
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