-The Hindu The introduction of educational qualifications as eligibility criteria for contesting panchayat elections has shocked and angered rural Rajasthan, including supporters of the ruling BJP When the literacy drive was in full force, I happened to visit a village in Ajmer district with a friend who was a civil servant. There was bold graffiti on a prominent school wall, which said: Saksharta ki kya pehchan? Upar chaddi, niche baniyan (How do...
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Just scrap it
-The Indian Express The Rajasthan government has muscled through an ordinance to disqualify its uneducated citizens from contesting the coming panchayat polls - only those who have studied till Class VIII are eligible to stand for election on the general seats. That's a remarkable change in a country where the Constitution allows anyone above the age of 25, irrespective of sex, caste or education, to contest elections to the Lok Sabha...
More »Denial and diversion of Plan Fund: The Great Adivasi-Dalit Rip-off -Nidheesh J Villatt
-Tehelka Adivasis and Dalits have been deprived of a staggering 5 lakh crore over three decades by successive governments. On 31 August 2010, a memorable scene played out in Parliament: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley cornered the then United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government for allegedly diverting funds meant for the welfare of Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (SCs/STs) towards Commonwealth Games projects. The master parliamentarian was questioning the then finance minister P Chidambaram on the alleged...
More »No conditions apply -Renana Jhabvala
-The Indian Express Cash in the hands of the poor can transform their lives. With bank accounts and an Aadhaar card for all becoming a reality, it is possible to transfer money directly to the poor and check middlemen who siphon away funds. Cash transfers (CTs) come in many forms. They may be conditional or unconditional, selective or non-selective, targeted or universal. Some types of CT are as susceptible to misuse as...
More »Casteism exists in India, let’s not remain in denial -Namita Bhandare
-The Hindustan Times The editor, a liberal man, is taken aback by my question. "I don't hire people on the basis of their caste but their ability," he informs me when I ask how many Dalits he has in his newsroom. Nearly 70 years after Independence, my question should have been irrelevant. But a caste survey by the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) and the University of Maryland, United States,...
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