Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are among the Indian states that have failed to name an ombudsman to handle grievances and prevent graft related to the central government’s flagship rural jobs programme, even two years after they were directed to do so. Only 15 of the nation’s 28 states have appointed the ombudsmen, according to the ministry of rural development. Assam, Haryana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu also haven’t appointed the watchdog. Setting up...

NGOs differ on Jan Lokpal, pick on Team Anna’s shortcomings Conflict Amongst NGOs?     * Great response to Anna seen as success of civil society     * NGOs agree on wiping off corruption in government, not on solutions     * They celebrate the middle class finding voice; but mourn lack of reach among villagers     * Divergence in views seen as healthy for debate; onus on govt to take final call *** First the good news:...

In the name of God, hapless girls are still being made to become devadasis which in stark terms means being raped by the priests, secretly auctioned to brothels and finally dying of AIDS. Deebashree Mohanty speaks to a few of these unfortunate women who died everyday of their life for a farce called service of the God I was nine when I got married to my village deity Yellamma. The mahajan,...

-The Telegraph   A myth is being sold to the people of West Bengal by those who claim that the state will “move ahead of several” others if it is renamed, data available in the public domain and collated by The Telegraph have established. The statistics show that meetings that decide resource allocation by the Centre are not decided on the basis of an inflexible alphabetical order. Each state’s preparedness to make presentations...

Anna Hazare is not Mohandas Gandhi or Jayaprakash Narayan. No one wants to seriously hear his diagnosis of the ills of the Indian political system or his vision of a future India and, so, it is pointless to find fault with either. He is not even a Gandhian satyagrahi looking for self-purification or waiting to listen to his inner voice. He has used his fasts to unashamedly pressure a corrupt,...