At a recent meeting in Kolkata, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee threw up his hands for not being able to present a bold Budget because of coalition politics. Indeed, Mamata Banerjee of the Trinamool Congress, a coalition partner, has been a thorn in the side of the UPA. She enjoys a veto on nearly everything that the government wishes to do. If such are the compulsions of coalition politics, should we not...

The ICDS' plight is symptomatic of the problems plaguing the Union government's flagship schemes for the poor all over the country.   INDIA may be the only country in the world where we describe the ensuring of the basic socio-economic rights of the people in terms of “flagship schemes” that are seen as the benevolent contribution of governments. One problem with this approach is that the delivery of basic services is...

A government panel has recommended an income-linked cap on marriage expenses as part of amendments to curb dowry harassment. “Introduction of ceilings in terms of percentage of income on gifts and marriage expenditure needs to be considered. A limit should also be put on marriage expenditure in terms of food,” the high-powered Planning Commission panel on women empowerment has said. The panel, made up of senior officials of the women and child...

Maoists wreaked their vengeance on tribals in a village in Chhattisgarh’s undivided Dantewada district, bordering Andhra Pradesh, by allegedly molesting women, assaulting elders, and torching houses for not handing over to them a local Salwa Judum (disbanded anti- Naxal vigilante force) leader, officials said on Wednesday. The brutality by the armed rebels, who numbered around 60-70, on the Dorla tribe population of Maraiguda in the newly created Sukma district (carved out...

-The Times of India Trinamool Congress men beat a 38-year-old woman, confined her near a temple, tore off her clothes and forced her to walk half-naked to her home at Kanaidighi village in Bengal's East Midnapore district. After the torture and humiliation in the presence of her 16-year-old son and daughter on Sunday, the woman consumed poison and was admitted to Contai subdivisional hospital. Police put up a barricade around the hospital...