Caste is feudal, the market free and equal. Correct? Ask Ratan Lal Sirswal or Deepak Jatav. Sirswal, 75, had started off as a sweeper but is now one of the oldest businessmen in Panipat, Haryana. He quit his sweeper’s job once his handloom unit was on its feet. His success, he says, came largely because he hid the fact that he was born a Valmiki Dalit. Customers who discovered his caste origins...

Impressing upon political parties to take note of discrimination against women from the Dalit and backward communities, scores of women panchayat council representatives on Friday demanded quota within quota in the Women's Reservation Bill. They were participating in a day-long conclave organised by ActionAid India here. Over 50 of them were from Bihar, West Bengal, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. “Yes, in theory women are equal to men. But even stepping out of...

The state has received Rs 5,942 crore, or 19% of the total Rs 31,149 crore released by New Delhi this financial year, it is followed by UP, allocated Rs 4,726 crore, or 15% and Andhra Pradesh, with Rs 3,781 crore, or 12% Rajasthan remains the top beneficiary of funds released by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government for its flagship income generation scheme. The state has received Rs 5,942 crore, or 19%...

For the preparation of the Commonwealth Games 2010, around Rs 17,400 crore have been spent on Delhi by the government over the past three years. The over-used word deployed by public leaders and officials to describe the city, which they hope will emerge from these exertions, is ‘world-class’. But forgotten are the men and women whose toil will make this ‘world-class’ city possible. At its peak in 2008-09, an estimated...

As the de-controlled fertilizer regime comes into play from April 1, the Centre has asked the States to take steps to ensure that stocks and the Maximum Retail Price (MRP) of fertilizers are clearly displayed for the benefit of farmers. The States have also been asked to keep a strict vigil on “smuggling of fertilizers across the international border and deal sternly with diversion of fertilizers to non-agricultural uses.” This, and...