Commentaries & Articles
Ombudsman or Lokpal?

As early as 1809, Sweden created an Ombudsman whose main job was to provide a forum for ventilation and remedy of public grievances against government and its officials for their inaction or unjust actions. Obviously corruption was not so much an is....

Allergies from The Arab Spring in India

The tremors from the convulsions wracking the Arab world are being felt in India too, in the amplitude that the Hazare drama is acquiring. This may not be grasped immediately as independent India has an autonomous record of organising non-violent pol....

Handling Public Agitations and Movements

India is witnessing a situation in which a group of people claiming to represent the civil society have launched a movement whose stated objective is to eliminate corruption but whose focussed objective is to make government legislate a Bill to creat....

Whither Education?

A task force set up by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, which was chaired by Prof. Sanjay Dhande, Director, IIT, Kanpur has looked at the question of faculty shortages in Indian universities and colleges. In 2008 it was calculated that on....

Communal Violence Bill – A Direct Assault On The States

The United Progressive Alliance government is readying itself to introduce a Bill to further strengthen the law against communal and targeted violence and to ensure speedy justice and reparations for the victims of communal violence. Though the objec....

We Shall Not Retire

During the Second World War when Britain’s fortunes were at their lowest ebb and Britain was in imminent danger of being invaded by the Germans who had successively conquered France and Belgium, Sir Winston Churchill became Prime Minister. The Bri....

The National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme

There are two lines of thought which are diametrically opposite, in the matter of how to tackle rural poverty. The western capitalist and the Chinese and Soviet Socialist view of this problem has been that farming should be treated almost as an indu....

Government’s Credibility Seriously at Stake – Aftermath of 13/7 Mumbai Attacks

One of the infirmities of our national security discourse is our skewed approach to the issues involved. We get disproportionally focused on the threat – its intensity, manifestations, damage caused etc. than the response required to address them. ....

The Bureaucratic Caste System

The Indian bureaucracy is highly caste bound, with the IAS being the Brahmins, the IPS being Keshetriyas, the bulk of the bureaucracy being the Vaishyas and the teacher and the scientist being the workhorse Shudras. We still identify the importance ....

The Role of The Prime Minister in A Westminster Democracy

Under the Indian Constitution the executive power of the Union vests in the President and is exercised by him through officers subordinate to him. However, in exercising his executive power the President is bound to act according to the aid and advi....

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