In order to protect Kashmiris from being unnecessary harassed and faced humiliation, the Centre - on advice of the group of interlocutors on J&K - has issued an advisory to all States/UTs (except J&K) to exercise utmost sensitivity while making inquiries about residents of J&K living in different parts of the country. "It has also asked the States to issue appropriate instructions to all police stations that they should not...

It is located in a separate building on the residential premises of the postmaster Dalits forced to transact from outside ‘If we try to enter the post office, they block the door' Seventy five-year-old Bailu has never set foot in the post office in her village in Betlhangady taluk for fear of being thrown out. Dalits of Melanthabettu village, located about 6 km from Belthangady, say they are denied entry into the post...

If you thought that globalization and privatization would reduce the glamour and clamour for government jobs, you couldn't be more wrong. The first-ever state-backed study on aspirations and expectations of youth in Karnataka suggest that at least 60% of 14-34 year-olds -- irrespective of their education, economic status and place of study - prefer a government job. Fuelling their aspiration for a government gaddi seems to be job security, which is...

Emily Esplen visited a community in Dhaka where inspiring community organisers are showing change is possible When I met members of the Dalit Women's Forum in Dhaka last month, they told me about the changes they want to see in their lives and communities. They want their daughters to go to school and stay in school. They want privacy and security when bathing in communal areas. They want health care and...

A small farmer in Maharashtra, whose high-yielding rice variety is popular in five States, is denied the benefits of his research. TWENTY-SEVEN years ago, Dadaji Khobragade of Nanded Fakir village in Chandrapur district of Maharashtra noticed yellow seeds in three spikes of a paddy stalk in his field. Intrigued by the freak harvest, he preserved the grains. He subsequently planted them in a six-foot square plot, which he covered with thorny...