It was due to a civil society struggle that the government only last year removed the bar on outsiders from participating in the social audit of projects executed under its showcase legislation of MGNREGA. Barring Andhra Pradesh, no state has so far implemented this reform. Yet, in its report for the ongoing universal periodic review (UPR) before the UN Human Rights Council, India cited the social audit clause in MGNREGA...
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BD Sharma, mover behind the Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas Act interviewed by Richard Mahapatra
Past two months saw B D Sharma negotiating release of high-profile hostages by the Maoists in Odisha and Chhattisgarh. TV viewers saw and heard Sharma, probably for the first time. Widely respected in the civil society, he has been championing the rights of tribals for four decades now. He served as collector in the undivided Bastar district of Chhattisgarh in the 1970s, after which he quit the Indian Administrative Service....
More »'Predicting poll results in India is tough'-Allan J Lichtman
-The Economic Times Allan J Lichtman's answers are brief and to the point. But by force of habit, he seems to love questions - he answers them animatedly, like professors who are used to keen listeners. This energetic American University professor of history is the one who has predicted correctly the results of all US presidential polls since 1984. "I have always been anxious," says he of the mood in the run-up...
More »Rights panel to link up with newspapers
-The Hindu In an effort to reach out to the people who have no voice, the Rajasthan State Human Rights Commission proposes to make linkages to the print media for regular feedback on instances of violation of human rights. The Commission has asked the newspapers with multi editions in the State to e-mail it the instances of violations reported in their local editions so that action could be taken on them. “Most...
More »Bathani Tola and the Cartoon Controversy by Anand Teltumbde
Why has there been such a silence from dalit leaders over the Bathani Tola judgment acquitting all those accused of killing 21 dalits? At the same time, what explains their loud protests over the Ambedkar cartoons in the textbooks? Has the elevation of Ambedkar as an icon relegated the dalit leadership to a politics of empty symbolism? Is the issue of a lack of accountability in the judicial system towards...
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