In three districts of Haryana, they have been agitating against the land acquisition policy of the State government. WHEN farmers of western Uttar Pradesh took to the streets protesting against the acquisition of their lands and demanding a just compensation package from the State government, the central leadership of the Congress was quick to cite the example of Haryana, where, according to United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi, the best policies...

In the fight against poverty, India seems to be winning - in some parts of the country at least. Vimla Sharma lives in Suwana Village in Rajasthan. Her life has been dramatically improved by a government scheme called the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. Launched in 2005, it guarantees every rural family 100 days of work a year at a wage of 100 rupees a day. She can now send...

The poor in India's Cities are in many ways worse off than those in rural areas, says Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Minister Kumari Selja, pointing out that the urban population is set to double in the next 25 years to over 600 million. 'About 300 million people live in towns and Cities underserved by utilities, with inadequate housing and increasingly choking traffic. The condition of the urban poor is by...

A seven-state survey on rural internet awareness revealed that close to 84% were ignorant of the medium’s existence. Of the ones who did know about it, 85% used the net only to access emails, 13% to know about the latest farming techniques and 8% to look up fertilisers, among other uses. We can acknowledge that internet penetration so far has been weak; but the past is not a guide to...

When we have policies trample on people's rights, and people go to courts seeking redress, what should the courts do, Prime Minister? Dear Prime Minister, I was delighted to learn that you said, while also “respectfully” ticking off the Supreme Court, that tackling food, rotting grain etc., — are all policy matters. You are absolutely right and it was time somebody said so. With that, you brought a whiff of honesty so...