Vilas Bhagwan Pote grins as he recalls his election as sarpanch of Ralegan Siddhi, Anna Hazare’s village in Ahmednagar district, 11 years ago. “I was the traitor, the bad guy,” he jokes. “I openly defied Anna because I felt he was wrong.” Pote, a Dalit charmakar (cobbler) then in his 30s, had been unhappy as the 2000 panchayat polls drew close. As always, Anna had nominated a new executive body for the...

The death recently in Nairobi of Kenyan environmental crusader and 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai brings to mind the work of another development activist and Nobel peace laureate (2006), Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh. Their fields were different but their goals were the same: empowering poor, ordinary women for social and economic growth. Perhaps it’s no coincidence that this year’s Nobel Peace Prize has gone to three women who are...

-PTI   Hundreds of mourners gathered on Saturday for the funeral of Kenyan environmentalist and Nobel laureate Wangari Maathai at a park in central Nairobi she fought to save from destruction. The staunch conservationist's body was driven to the park in a coffin made of hyacinth fibres and bamboo frames because she opposed being buried in a wooden casket requiring the chopping down of trees. Mourners also lined Nairobi streets to view the cortege...

The challenges that came into the fore after the recent anti-corruption movement seems to have expedited activities within the UPA government on the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has decided to review the performance of MGNREGA in states on September 29. The  decision was taken in the wake of wide ranging recommendations by Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC). It seeks to revamp...

A survey conducted across nine states by the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi and Allahabad University suggests that the much maligned system has revived, prodded by politics, good governance and the apex court. It also found the poor to be averse to cash transfers Kotri is a mid-sized village in Desuri block (Pali district, Rajasthan), about 15 kilometres away from the nearest large bus stand and market place. We walked to...