The central vigilance committee led by retired Justice D. P. Wadhwa, which was established by the Supreme Court of India to monitor its orders in the PIL on the right to food, has come out with a strong indictment of the public distribution system (PDS). Based on State-level reports for Delhi, Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Karnataka, the committee has identified widespread corruption at different levels of the...

What pleases Sunita Devi most about her position in Garhi Hakeeqat is not the Women’s Reservation Bill promising mandatory reservation for women in the electoral process that will promote many like her, but the proud remembrance of the day she climbed up the village chaupal. Until three years ago, the rules were stiff. The chaupal, a raised, circular platform-like structure for public meetings was, for all practical purposes, considered a preserve...

Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Murli Deora inaugurated the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen LPG Vitarak Yojana as a national scheme for providing liquefied petroleum gas to the rural households at Lachhmangarh in Sikar district of Rajasthan on Sunday. Six dealers were selected for rural locations in the State through draw of lots. Addressing the gathering, Mr. Deora said the Union Government was committed to providing convenient and hygienic cooking fuel to...

A village girl in Burdwan stormed out of her wedding venue today though the rituals had been completed and, rubbing off the sindoor on her head, said she did not accept the marriage because the groom’s family was demanding a huge dowry. The boy, owner of a car rental agency, was garlanded with shoes by angry villagers and was being kept confined at a local temple along with his sister and...

BD Sharma is one of India's foremost experts on tribal issues. He has served as collector of undivided Bastar district in Chhattisgarh and commissioner for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes and has campaigned extensively to protect the rights of tribals. Currently, the coordinator of Bharat Jan Andolan, a network of grass-roots organisations, Sharma tells that current notions of development are at the root of the Maoist insurgency: What has changed...