Whither freedom
Post independence, governments expanded squeezing village republics out of existence
Child poverty a global concern
It is time poverty alleviation policies and programmes get child-centric, to lay a solid foundation for a future generation that is healthy and …
A personal memoir of planned development
India's affair with five-year plans ends
Sabhas we listen to
On the 30th year of Panchayati Raj, the rise of the Gram Sabha holds the hope of making local-government accountable
Toothless at 10
A decade after their inception, Panchayati Raj bodies are yet to be granted adequate powers
The national local elections
Bangladesh loses an opportunity to revive its most important local government—upazilla parishad—as competing national parties turn …
Betrayed
Nepal's forest bureaucracy prepares for the funeral of the much-hailed community forest management programme
Brazilian lessons for Modi
Dilma Rousseff's re-election as president is a lesson on facing development challenges in an unequal economy
Much ado about nothing
How much does government support add to household income?
“90 वोटों के लिए धन्यवाद”
मानवाधिकार कार्यकर्ता की अपमानजनक हार ने कहीं और जीत का संकेत दिया
Women’s Day 2024: ‘She’ is for Self Help Empowerment
In India, women self-help groups have been a source of empowerment, fostering economic independence, social stature & community resilience. …
Why the data block?
India does not know how many people are poor or who they are; no consumer expenditure survey has been done in the last decade. We also do not …
India’s homemakers being wooed by political parties is path-breaking
The socio-political message of parties promising cash value to homemakers is a recognition of women’s work in a typical male-dominated …
US elections 2020: Trumped by hunger
US presidential candidates aren’t known to talk hunger; but they do talk inequality. This year, the pandemic and racial polarisation made …
भारत में आधे बच्चे हैं गरीब
ये बच्चे मूलभूत मानव विकास की जरूरतों से वंचित हैं। यह सर्वेक्षण यह भी बताता है कि बच्चों को केंद्र में रखकर चलाए जा ...
Elected democracy: democratic enough?
Global trends reveal that people are no longer finding this popular governance mechanism effective
A deal for votes
2013-14 might see expansion or monetisation of development schemes in run-up to election
The beauty & beast of malnutrition
Consigned to flames
Central and state authorities fiddle while underground coalfields burn in Jharia in the state of Jharkhand
A state in chaos
The human cost of the cyclone in Orissa is very high. So is the cost of the damage to the environment. The failure of the state machinery in …
Power of the local
Panchayat elections almost contested with the Bihar poll. Is this desirable?
On the world’s largest and longest UBI experiment
The experiment is ongoing in 'sequestered' 200 villages in Kenya for the next eight years and India has some lessons as it plans for a similar scheme
Forget 2022, more than 110 million Indians would remain poor forever
The next generation of the current poor Indians has high probability of remaining poor as well. Lack of access to resources like forests and …
King without a jungle
The sandalwood forests are gone. Now an ageing Veerappan looks for greener pastures
Civil society & politics