By Jamal Kidwai and Juhi Tyagi

The gram sabha is supposed to decide on the works to be undertaken under NREGS. But most people in the villages surveyed in Bihar recently had no clue how the work or worksite in their village was determined. This is in complete violation of the principles of decentralisation and local participation, which are as central to the objectives of NREGA as economic and political empowerment

By Mari Marcel Thekaekara

There are still thousands of people in India cleaning dry latrines with their bare hands, including 7 km from the capital. But there are many signs of change too: on August 15, the Safai Karmachari Andolan plans to declare Andhra Pradesh the first manual scavenging-free state in India, writes Mari Marcel Thekaekara, starting a new column on social inequities and the people who are fighting for social justice

By Ranjan K Panda

A divisional forest officer in Orissa proves that the forest bureaucracy considers itself above the law and, on a whim, can deprive people of rights over their resources. A case in Sambalpur district, where a man had to wait two years for permission to cut and sell some trees on his land, shows how

By Rina Mukherji

A book by Benaulim resident Clinton Vaz shows visiting tourists how they can reduce the harmful effects of their presence in this popular Goan tourist destination

By Alok Prakash Putul

India passed the Leprosy Act in 1898 to ensure that leprosy patients did not face discrimination. A hundred years on, Indian laws and regulations do just that. Legislation in several states prevents leprosy patients from obtaining a driving licence, travelling in trains, and contesting panchayat elections. And many marriage laws make “contracting leprosy” grounds for divorce

We could be on the threshold of a new phase of globalisation, one where there will be a new protectionism, more regional trade and regional economic activism and where governments will be forced to address the problems of the vulnerable middle class and poor, argues John Samuel

Ideas, knowledge, art and travel are things which should be international, but let goods be homespun whenever possible, said John Keynes in 1933. Are we realising the wisdom of Keynes’ statement now, with India facing rising inflation with economic slowdown? Is this the result of the blanket opening up of the Indian economy? Are there lessons to be learnt about the benefits of a more selective opening up, asks economist Aseem Shrivastava

By Sujata Madhok

The fallout of Bt cotton cultivation in Gujarat has been a rapid increase in acreage under cotton, a spurt in cotton exports and consequently, a huge demand for child labourers from neighbouring states

By Rakesh Shukla

How does one interpret the expression “husband” in the context of the offences of cruelty and dowry demands, in cases where the validity of the marriage is in question?

By Siddharth Narrain

The National Commission for Women has recommended amendments to the Indecent Representation of Women Act, broadening the definition of “indecent representation” and introducing more stringent punishment under the law. But with this move, is the NCW taking the debate on representation of women in the media forward in any meaningful way?

The government has proposed a six-fold increase in spending on incorporating ICTs in school education. Government has also formed a group to draft a National Policy on ICT in School Education. Strangely, there are more representatives of IT majors in the group than educationists, says Gurumurthy Kasinathan

By Nick Gill

In a backlash to the skyrocketing prices of academic journals, academics worldwide are seeking ways to wrest knowledge back from the corporations and open access to all. Following the lead of major universities in Europe and USA, IMSc Chennai launched its open-access repository last month

India has lost out on the opportunity to build a strong liability regime for developing countries which would enable them to protect their farmers and consumers from any damage caused by genetically engineered crops and products, reports Suman Sahai after the recent international convention in Bonn

By Monideepa Choudhuri

250 farming families are protesting the acquisition of their fertile lands for modernisation of the Imphal airport.With cultivable land already at a premium in Manipur, the transition of agricultural land to infrastructure development all over the state will exacerbate the food crisis, add to poverty levels and cause loss of livelihoods

By Deepti Priya Mehrotra

Elementary school enrolment rose from approximately 156 million in 1999-2000 to about 194 million in 2006-07. The Annual Status of Education Report-Rural by the Pratham Resource Centre finds that school enrolment for rural areas, for children aged 6-14, was 93.4% in 2006. It increased to 95.8% in 2007. This is no mean achievement. Concerted efforts, committed policies and programmes have borne some fruit