Set to include them in BPL segment In a step which can have a major bearing on Dalit politics in the country and challenge Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati’s undisputed hold over her caste people, the Centre is likely to carve out a special Mahadalit category and include them in the Below Poverty Line (BPL) segment. The proposal is expected to come up for discussion before the Union Cabinet on...

“Poor farmers could not fathom why they were beaten up, their houses set afire” Starting from where he left off in Bhatta-Parsaul and emboldened by the success of the Congress campaign against the Mayawati government on the land acquisition issue, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said, “there will be a Bhatta-Parsaul in every village,” to ensure the government's downfall. “The Congress will fight the government at the ground zero...

If the problems are macro, think micro. That seems to have been the guiding principle for Lekha-Mendha, the Maharashtra village that last month became the first in India to win the right to grow, harvest and sell bamboo. Such rights are the key goal of a five-year-old central law which aims to give tribal communities control over some resources of the jungles they live in. “There is no point in looking out...

Existing norms to be continued, according to government order The scheme of free distribution of 20 kg rice to beneficiaries under the public distribution system (PDS) will come into force on June 1. At present, rice is given at Re. 1 a kg to those who are entitled to receive the commodity. As per the existing norms, rice of four kg per adult and two kg per child is supplied subject to...

Mass leaders in India have a tradition of broaching BSP —bijli, sadak and pani — issues to strike a chord during election rallies. However, in almost each of her 150-plus rallies across the state in the election season, Mamata Banerjee deviated from the conventional mix and squeezed into her speech phrases like debt burden, public finance and economic recovery. Whether such esoteric terms found resonance or not, Mamata did get across the...