 |
AnalysisThe prince, the priest and the merchant
We the people are supposed to be in charge of the modern manifestations of power. But are we? The secular democratic process is only the old Prince-Priest-Merchant nexus in disguise, says John Samuel More... The delusions of power: Beauty and the beastEverything small is beautiful these days. NGOs, busy with micro finance and micro politics for the poor, are small, beautiful -- and powerless. Meanwhile, the beast of markets and States can continue to dominate macro economics and politics. This neat division into micro and macro sustains the unjust power relationships that perpetuate impoverishment, inequality and injustice, says John SamuelMore... The limits of judicial activismToday, everything from river pollution to the selection of the cricket team has become the purview of judicial activism. Is it time to put the genie back in the bottle and confine the courts' public interest jurisdiction to its original purpose of ensuring justice to the poor and exploited? More... Towards a dollar democracy?Nandan Nilekani recently said that a city like Bangalore that contributes 60% of a state's GDP should have more than 7% of the state assembly seats. Nilekani and others are in effect arguing for a dollar democracy, where one rupee will count for one vote, rather than one person More... Man does not live by bread aloneBhutan's concept of Gross National Happiness, like E F Schumacher's concept of Buddhist economics, Hazel Henderson's compassionate economics, and the modern measure of Happy Life Years, is a recognition that progress is inextricably linked not with material growth or financial gain but with the absence of suffering or samsara. Darryl D'Monte reports from the world's last Shangri-La More... Towards democratic governanceThe people must reclaim the institutions of governance: questions need to be asked, policies need to be monitored, rights need to be claimed and accountability needs to be asserted More... Preconditions for an empowered IndiaWhat are the enabling conditions for the empowerment of a billion people? More... Letting doctors get away with negligenceThe medical profession has consistently resisted the jurisdiction of the courts. A recent Supreme Court judgment puts medical professionals in India above the criminal law of the land. But surely it is hazardous to start carving out exceptions to the uniform applicability of criminal law, asks Supreme Court advocate Rakesh ShuklaMore... Power to the peopleThe Indian government's National Electricity Policy 2005 appears to be governed by the liberalisation themes of competition and privatisation. What does the policy imply for domestic consumers and farmers? More... Citizens who seek redressA citizen in India tends to go to the public authorities 13 times to get a single complaint redressed! But increasingly, citizens are putting the State and its governance under the scanner. At a recent workshop 'Developing Mechanisms for Public Accountability in Urban Services', experts emphasised the ways in which citizens are being empowered to seek redress More... What is good governance?It's definitely not just the effective management of economic resources, as the World Bank believes. It's about freedom, human rights, public accountability and people's participation More... Economics vs ecology: Progress within limitsA recent meeting in Tuscany, Italy, explored the stormy relationship between economics and ecology and questioned the concept of growth without limits More... Banning the majority from votingA recent petition in the Bombay High Court seeks to ban slumdwellers from voting. The argument would be that squatters don't occupy land legally and don't pay taxes and therefore deserve to be disenfranchised. The argument doesn't wash, says Darryl D’Monte. Surely citizenship and voting rights are not defined by the dwellings and structures one occupies? More... Opening the Planning Commission to the people: Sayeeda HameedSayeeda Hameed, member of the Planning Commission, talks about a system to invite people's participation in the planning process More... Two-child norm puts panchayats under pressureThe mandatory two-child norm for panchayat members, that exists in many Indian states, is proving to be more divisive than productive, with many women being forced to step down from their posts despite having little say in the number of children they have More... |
View articles by page |
|
||||||
| Microsites | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Newsletter |
|---|
|
|
| Syndicate |
|---|
 |