Large promises
Prime Minister Vajpayee is terribly interested in rural development these days. On his birthday he inaugurated Swajaldhara, a nation-wide water …
Empowered panchayats make for true liberalisation
A myth actively perpetuated by traditional politicians and a supportive bureauracy is that panchayat bodies are India's lowest ranked …
Farming fish and mussels
When bad management and increasing demand for inland fish led to plummeting stocks, fishing villages around the Ashtamudi estuary in Kollam …
Where are the panchayats?
Of the three farm water conservation programmes currently under way in Karnataka, the Jal Samvardhene Yojana (jsy) has completed a year of …
Cola major gets a taste of panchayat power
A multi-billion-dollar transnational corporation has had to blink first in an eyeball-to-eyeball dispute with an obscure panchayat of Kerala. On …
Climate is changing, and the Sundarban residents can feel it
The Sundarban delta region in the Bay of Bengal, with 10,000 square kilometres of estuarine mangrove forest and 102 islands, is the world's …
Impotent plan?
In August 2005, the Indian Parliament passed the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (nrega). The latest avatar of state-financed employment …
A watershed plan
Recurrent droughts and floods coupled with mass poverty, chronic unemployment and pervasive malnutrition are the major challenges before India. …
‘Forest department is the encroacher’
When V Kishore Chandra Deo became the Union Minister for Panchayati Raj and Tribal Affairs three months ago, both the ministries were in inertia.…
On privatising water
What about privatising water? Should India move to do it? What tips the scales in its favour, and what doesn't? In 2003, two editorials in Down …
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 …
‘Tribals turn extremists because states are too busy making money from land’
The world’s largest democracy is facing a surge in tribal uprisings. The recent killings of Mahendra Karma and other Congress leaders in …
Eye on the storm
Cyclone Phailin has not taken many lives but has left behind a trail of destruction that severely cripples people’s livelihood. What did it …
Sand slips
Where there is a river, there is sand. Called a minor mineral, it fulfils a major requirement of the booming construction industry. No wonder, …
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 …
How green were the forests
The van panchayats of the Uttar Pradesh hills were created to restore the vital link between villagers and their forests. Today, they are prime …
New raj wars the old
Its high time the panchayati raj institutions in India reviewed their actual role in spelling out developmental processes
Panchayats' working women
Slowly but steadly, women elected to panchayats are asserting themselves and, in the process, giving a new thrust to grassroot governance
Tribal turmoil
Upbeat about the restoration of ownership rights, Gadchiroli tribals march towards self-governance
Lok Sabha passes Women’s Reservation Bill with two-thirds majority
Opposition leaders have flagged concerns about the timing of the bill’s passage as well as its eventual transition to the status of law
Bill must ensure power to the people
The political debate on the Panchayati Raj and Nagarpalika bills does not address the issue of giving power to the people so they can take …
For the people
Grassroot bodies should pressurise the state government to effectively implement the new Act on tribal self-rule passed by the Centre
Ground report: How is Chhattisgarh’s ‘dung deal’ working
plan to purchase cow dung to boost rural economy, ensure clean villages and solve stray cattle problem saw initial success, but things …
The rulers nouveaux
Madhya Pradesh took a head-start in implementing the 3-tier panchayati raj. But lack of finances might just undo the transfer of power to the people
Gram sabha empowered
Anna Hazare's relentless crusade leads to ordinance granting more powers to the gram sabha in Maharashtra