Taking ahead its fight against corruption in schemes under MGNREGA, the Aruna Roy led Suchna Evum Rozgar Ka Adhikar Abhiyanhas begun work for bringing the glare of the Supreme Court and the Centre on cases of misappropriation in the state. The Abhiyan's move comes after alleged complacency by the state in handling these cases. And while the Abhiyan would be taking up the numerous cases where sarpanches have been found...

Marked by distrust and, on the government's part an element of coercion as well, the civil society-UPA exercise to jointly draft a Lokpal bill formally ended in failure on Tuesday with the two sides exchanging conflicting drafts. The government is unable to accept civil society's version of an anti-corruption authority with sweeping jurisdiction over the Prime Minister's Office, top judiciary and actions of MPs in Parliament along with merging entities like...

'Civil society' is a special kind of political capacity, not a repository of any special virtue—and it is not more inherently valuable than the state The story of Indian democracy sometimes plays like a soap opera. The latest episode—not the uplifting kind—involves a confrontation between the government and a mysterious something called “civil society”. Can this “civil society” cavalcade in to rescue a flailing Indian democracy—that once-proud system now being abused...

The Government proposal to make cash transfer in place of food grain to poor families has drawn mixed reactions. Raghuvir Nagar on the western outskirts of Delhi has of late turned into a turf for a war between two schools of thought. The war has not been limited to campaigns and debates and purportedly escalated to the level of allegations, even intimidation, so much so that the Government of the national...

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee faced a major embarrassment on Friday as she was forced to put on hold an ordinance restoring land in Singur to farmers. The state government on Friday instead proposed to table a Bill in the legislative assembly on Tuesday so that the land in Singur-currently the site of an abandoned Tata Motors factory-can eventually be given back to farmers. "The ordinance that was promulgated on...