Polishing away their futures
In one of development's pampered districts in Orissa, chamar children are still polishing shoes, some
even as they are supposedly schooling. Special economic packages are helping only a little here, and
academic performance and serious rehabilitation remain abysmal, finds
Ranjan K Panda.
Villagers push for work benefits in Orissa
The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) is being implemented in
Orissa in stops and starts. But by pressing for information on NREGA benefits
using the sunshine law, citizens are able to hold officials accountable and are
able to remedy the situation by themselves in some cases.
Pradeep Baisakh
has more.
Move to amend tribal land law dangerous
The Orissa state government is proposing to amend a law that prevents easy
selling of tribal land to non-tribals. The government's argument -- that land sale
is one of the important ways for needy tribals to raise immediate cash
does not appear as benign as it sounds, writes
Pradeep Baisakh.
Mine? What mine? Ah, yes, the mine.
Is Vedanta's proposed alumina refinery dependent on mining in protected forest lands? The company kept the two apart in its first proposals, but now,
having proceeded on one front without the necessary clearances for the other, claims it may incur significant losses if the Supreme Court blocks its
plans.
Kanchi Kohli
reports.
Orissa's draft resettlement policy is promising
Months before the recent police firings during tribal protests in Kalinganagar, Orissa,
the state government and international development agencies had finalised a draft for
a comprehensive resettlement and rehabilitation for project-affected people.
Manipadma Jena
reports that the policy is likely to come into force in March 2006.
Orissa's aluminum mining costs are steep
The Central Empowered Committee of the Supreme Court has found
illegalities in central government clearances to Sterlite Industries'
bauxite mining project in Orissa. The committee has recommended (to the
apex court) against diversion of forestlands for the project.
Kanchi Kohli
reports.
Accelerated corruption, a trickle of irrigation
In its eagerness to provide more Central funding for large irrigation projects, the government is overlooking an
important fact - that the proposed mechanism for this funding has been severely indicted
for corruption by the CAG.
Himanshu Upadhyaya
offers a few examples.
Un-shining India
The struggle in Kashipur against mining in sacred adivasi lands is
just one example of an India we cannot forget, says
Kalpana Sharma.
Economic progress comes at a cost. But we can still ask whether
the cost has to be borne by people who will never see the benefits
of such progress.
Orissa's labour industry
A conniving chain of regulators, police, and contractors is profiteering upon the
backs of gruelling labour by migrants.
Jaideep Hardikar
reports on the exploitation.
Living in truth : hope in Koinpur
Dilip D'Souza
on how unglamorous measures have begun to pay off for the Saora people in Orissa.
Different state, same story
Sudarshan Chhotoray
reports on displacement and lack of rehabilitation in water projects in Orissa.
Our own schools
With help from formal learning centres, CRY, and the Dalit
and Adivasi Liberation Trust, Orissa's forgotten villages
work to control their own destinies.
Jharkhand looks at better planning to aid NREGA outcomes
A state-wide campaign called “Yojana Banao Abhiyan” undertaken to plan for NREGA implementation in Jharkhand has sensitized the people and authorities to the potential of the scheme and recharged local democratic institutions. Ankita Aggarwal reports.
Rallying for people’s rights
Jan Adhikar Yatra, a ten-day long march took place across the state of Jharkhand last month. The yatra was to mobilise people against the growing attacks on their basic rights like employment guarantee, food security, social security, and right to their forest and land. Ankita Aggarwal reports about her experience in the Yatra.
Coal-related pollution chokes mining towns in Jharkhand
The Dhanbad and Jharia regions in Jharkhand, noted for rampant coal mining and related operations, face grave environmental issues due to dumping of pollutant by-products from coal washeries. Shripad Dharmadhikary reports after a visit to Dhanbad.
Fewer takers for NREGS after long wage delays
Less than 100 days of work and chronic delays in payment - in continuing focus on NREGS implementation across states,
Himanshu Upadhyaya
summarises the findings of a recent performance review by the CAG of the scheme in Jharkhand.
Plentiful, but for whom?
The forests of India have enough treasure to power the economy of the whole country, it seems, but not enough to empower the adivasis.
Shoma Chatterji
reviews Johar.
Jharkhand's "government by fiction"
"The main hurdle to the development of Jharkhand is political: the states resources are under the control of this criminal nexus, and people have no say."
Jivesh Singh
interviews Jean Dreze on Jharkhand's 10th anniversary.
Woman of steel
I would like to salute women like Dayamani Barla, for reminding us that there are other ways to "develop" and that it is possible to fight peacefully
but with determination for your convictions, writes
Kalpana Sharma.
Is it too late for Jharkhand's adivasis?
"There is this growing feeling among the adivasis of Jharkhand that in this newly created state, given to them only in name, they stand at the crossroads," runs the commentary in Ab Aur Waqt Nahin, a documentary film directed by Abhijoy Karlekar.
Shoma Chatterji
reviews the film.
Voices of the marginalised
In the poorest part of Jharkhand, community radio has become an important instrument for the development of neglected
communities. If access to their own media were freer, the villagers believe, things could be even better.
Pratibha Jyoti
reports on the progress made even without government support for community stations.
Wrong, but still right!
Despite an inspection confirming
substantial violations
of its lending policies in a Coal India project, the World
Bank's board
recommends only minimal action, and claims local
people gained nonetheless.
Not quite as planned or promised
The World Bank's Inspection Panel finds that
a Bank-backed coal mine disrupted livelihoods by violating guidelines on
resettlement, supervision, and the environment.
A futile struggle for the right to trade
Legislation for street vendors mandates registration of all vendors and allocation of spaces for them by the state in designated zones. Navya P K’s interaction with street vendors in Delhi reveals a reality that is in stark contrast to what the law holds.
Daily wage-earners in Delhi find little cause to cheer for AAP
The AAP manifesto may have talked at length about “a flexible and fair labour policy” and regularisation of contract workers, but for a vast section of daily wage-earners, such promises hold no meaning. Devanik Saha talks to one to find out why.
Delhi’s big battle in figures
As Delhi readies for the fiercely contested Assembly elections, here are a few details beyond the din of the campaigns that we bet you didn’t know! S Venkatraman captures them in an infographic.
Leading from the capital
As Delhi prepares to choose its leaders for the 16th Lok Sabha, Navya P K presents a look at the leaders who represented the key urban constituencies in the last session of Parliament.
Sons and daughters waiting to be rescued
As media reports on abuse of domestic help become increasingly frequent,
Shoma A Chatterji
draws attention to a documentary that reveals the
shocking realities of children and young people trafficked for employment as servants in upper and middle class homes, primarily in Delhi.
Delhi's cry: No more dead men walking
Not least among the problems in the national capital is the lack of road safety for pedestrians and those using non-motorised transport.
Shambhu Ghatak
presents data exposing the stark reality of commute in Delhi and outlines recommendations made to improve the situation.
Why Arvind Kejriwal does not need magic
The question foremost on the minds of both believers and sceptics now
is whether AAP will be able to keep its lofty promises to the people.
Subramaniam Vincent
feels that this may not require rocket science, after all.
Does the loser take it all?
In a rare occurrence in the Indian electoral scene, a losing party is not only hogging a larger share of the limelight but also apparently
bringing about real changes in the way that politics has been practised in the country.
Anoo Bhuyan
analyses the real impact of the Delhi elections.
When idealism isn't impractical anymore
Debates on a paradigm shift in Indian politics have primarily seen arguments around the feasibility of change, even as they took its desirability
as given.
Shankar Jaganathan
celebrates the developments which promise a triumph for idealism and show its potential of being translated into reality.
A tipping point for Indian democracy
The translation of support for the Aam Aadmi Party into votes in the Delhi Assembly Elections 2013 augurs well for the Indian democracy, long
struggling to break free from a corruption-ridden, archaic political establishment, writes
R. Balasubramaniam
What makes the Aam Aadmi Party tick?
Veteran journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta talks to India Together on the phone from Delhi to share his views on what the
nation is talking about - the spectacular debut performance of the Aam Aadmi Party in the recent state elections.
Delhi, through women's eyes
The Indian capital with its chauvinistic society and sordid history of crimes against women is the last place that one would imagine women to be attracted to.
Zumbish
talks to women who live and work in Delhi to know their thoughts on the city.
Delhi is designed for rape
It will require a change in the DNA and design of the city for a reduction in the number of rapes in Delhi. Addressing the structural problems of Delhi is a critical component of improving the situation, argues
Jacob John.
Delhi is designed for rape
It will require a change in the DNA and design of the city for a reduction in the number of rapes in Delhi. Addressing the structural problems of Delhi is a critical component of improving the situation, argues
Jacob John.
A burning issue at Okhla
The Supreme Court has ordered a go-slow on waste-to-incineration technology that may be potential harmful to public health, but the
MNRE is guided more by its focus on tackling urban waste.
Kanchi Kohli
reports.
Fear in the city
We now have data that establishes that due to the fear of violence and harassment many women do not have the autonomy to freely move in
a variety of public spaces, writes
Kalpana Sharma.
Music of the monsoon
Monsoon reawakens Vasundhara Chauhans senses as she soaks in the smell and sound of rain, irresistible mangoes, pakodas, and what not.
Teen journalists make their own newspaper
These kids can hold their own on sensationalism in the media. Why? Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi's vision of journalism, they help put together a newspaper called The Yamuna.
Shobha S V
has more.
Give us a break, Mr Sreedharan
The Delhi Metro chief's recent letter to the Planning Commission, warning that Hyderabad's model for its Metro could lead to a political scandal
overlooks the subsidies his own organisation has received, writes
Sunil Jain.
A run on the Yamuna banks
In the name of housing Commonwealth Games participants for a mere 10 days, an exclusive gated community is being established on the Yamuna banks,
in areas previously protected as green spaces in the heart of Delhi.
Kannan Kasturi
reports.
From Busway to BRT
Compared to other bus corridors world-wide, the Delhi effort is a very limited one. The current design
is only a busway, and the government must push forward to build a full-fledged Bus Rapid Transit system, say
Dario Hidalgo and Madhav Pai.
When I'm sixty-four
In Delhi, it is not just private old-age homes that have people queuing up, despite the
relatively steep rates. Government-run old-age
homes, which are far more modest, are also filled to the capacity.
Swapna Majumdar
reports on a changing society.
Diesel threat in cities continues to rise
The sulphur content of diesel in India is 350 particles per
million, twenty times that of
the United States. Diesel exhaust is far more hazardous than petrol exhaust. Yet, diesel
cars in Indian cities are rising with the association of automobile manufacturers pushing
hard for it.
Darryl D'Monte
has more.
Be safe, don't exist
The Delhi Police's booklet containing tips for women from the Northeast to be safe in the capital exposes only their own need for sensitivity
training. Not surprisingly, many northeastern students in Delhi are incensed at being portrayed as responsible for their own problems, writes
Kalpana Sharma.
RTI: An enormous power with the people
In conversation with Vinita Deshmukh,
Magsaysay award winner
Arvind Kejriwal
talks about India's RTI movement, and worries that a formidable tool of empowerment
might slip out of the hands of citizens if amendments proposed by the UPA government are enacted.