-CaravanMagazine.in India is often hailed for its democracy, for empowering its poor and ordinary citizens to participate in the electoral process and play a role in shaping the country. This narrative has increasingly come under strain since the Supreme Court, through its March 2003 judgment in Union of India vs Association for Democratic Reforms, made it mandatory for candidates contesting elections to disclose their wealth, educational qualification, and criminal cases pending...

-The Indian Express Government agencies and courts can no longer give precedence to one kind of public interest (that of middle and upper classes) over another kind of public interest (that of the slum residents). On March 18, the Delhi High Court held that slum dwellers are not secondary citizens but citizens with equal rights. Authorities can evict slum dwellers only when their occupation of the land is illegal. Any unannounced...

-The Indian Express Policy is not based on assessments of deprivation — it merely addresses specific groups The Gujjars of Rajasthan are back on the streets. This could be seen as an attempt to corner the newly-formed Congress government in the state. Both Congress and BJP have had the taste of Gujjar wrath earlier. It could also be seen as an extension of intra-party factionalism playing out in the open for...

-The Hindu Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Monday questioned the Maharashtra government on the advertisements issued by the State to fill jobs under reservation granted to the Maratha community A Division Bench of Chief Justice Naresh Patil and Justice MS Karnik was hearing a bunch of public interest litigations and petitions opposing and supporting the new legislation granting 16% reservation to the Marathas. Advocate Gunratan Sadavarte, appearing for one of the petitioners...

-The Indian Express In an advisory on August 7 to all private satellite television channels, the I&B Ministry had asked them to “refrain from using the nomenclature Dalit”, and use only the Constitutional term, ‘Scheduled Caste’. New Delhi: Disagreeing with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting’s advisory that the media should stop using the word Dalit and replace it with Scheduled Caste, the Press Council of India has decided it will not...