Where are rural courts?
The Gram Nyayalaya Act was passed in 2008 to make the judicial process participatory, inexpensive and accessible to rural India. But rural courts …
Move to leash NGOs
Government and political parties see NGOs with suspicion. Arm-twisting has already begun
Presidential panchayat
India's third-tier of government has a few lessons for those seeking presidential form of government
Pills for polls
The free medicine scheme in Rajasthan may benefit Congress
The power of intermediaries
Move to rein in Internet censorship falters; ISPs continue to block websites
Democracy's better half
Exclusive women's village councils are beginning to make a difference in India's rural areas. Are state governments ready to share power with them?
The aam politician is a crorepati
Every other politician who is elected now is a crorepati, even those in the Aam Aadmi Party
DRDA faces axe
District Rural Development Agency in conflict with Constitution; committee suggests its abolition
Rise of third sector
NGOs’ relationship with the government has been redefined over the years with changing social and political scenario
Channels of change
Two villages in Uttar Pradesh have reversed the trend of migration by digging six kilometres of channels to bring water to drought-hit farms
ANNA TO BINAYAK AND TATA
Bridging the gap
Pressured by a highly active civil society, the Kerala state government is actually giving power to the people. The decentralisation theory has …
A trial with too many errors
Infighting within AAP post its brute win in Delhi raises doubts about civil society's tryst with electoral politics
Democracy under surveillance
West Bengal bureaucrats to monitor panchayat institutions, implement their decisions
Developing politics: Election 2004 is not the end
Panchayat Raj Half a cheer for democracy
There is a great push to make panchayats the fulcrum of rural development in India. But 16 years after the third tier of government was created, …
Bank at your doorstep
Technology is helping public sector banks find customers in rural India. This is part of the Centre’s efforts to include villages in the …
Foreign Vedanta funds Cong, BJP
Delhi High Court directs government to take action against the parties within six months
On wrong wavelength
Twenty years after the Supreme Court asserted that people have a right over radio waves, community radio continues to struggle. Instead of …
Walk the village talk
After raising the political profile of village councils, government wants to downsize them
Have India's tribal leaders failed their people?
India has the largest tribal population in the world. But they are also the most marginalised section of society. What is it in India's political …
Elementary failure
Since the Right To Education Act came into force on April 1, 2010, India has been witnessing an experiment that involves parents in enforcing a …
Saga of two villages
Sukhomajri was a dirt-poor village in Haryana. It started pulling itself out of its hole in the late 1970s, making a dizzying ascent to …
The panchayat outrage
It was a vote for self-governance, not self-determination. No panchayat election in the country ever created as much hype as that of Jammu and …
Hiware Bazar - A village with 54 millionaires
Hiware Bazar, a village in Maharashtra's drought-prone Ahmednagar district, was sliding into an abyss after degrading its environment. But in …