Governments That Work - I : Primary Health Care Finally Takes Off in the States

A combination of fortuitous circumstances – high rates of economic growth coupled with spiraling government revenues; the information revolution; Panchayati Raj; public-private partnership; and the emergence of political leaders who are determined ....

Governments That Work - II : The Mid-Day Meal, Ladli Lakshmi and the Bicycle for the Girl Child are Worthy of Emulation

Thinking out-of-the-box, politicians and bureaucrats are coming up with innovative ideas in many states to effectively tackle problems that have dogged Indian society for decades. It is indeed heartening to see the range of programmes and the clever ....

The Right to Reject all Candidates

The demand that voters should have the right to reject all the candidates in a constituency is now picking up with many non-government organizations and even the Election Commission supporting the idea. The proposal is to give electors the choice to ....

Caste-based Census back on national discourse

Amid a plethora of problems facing India, the sudden clamour for caste-based census by political parties in and outside parliament has brought the sensitive subject back on national discourse. After a heated debate in the Lok Sabha on the last two da....

Guest Column : Tackling the Naxal Insurgency

The Naxal Insurgency started in the tiny thatched hut village of Naxalbari in 1967 by Charu Mazumdar and Kanu Sanyal. By 1969, it had spread all over West Bengal. The main cause was economic, rampant poverty. The insurgency had, by 1969, spread to th....

Strategic and Tactical Response to Left Extremism: Problems & Possibilities

“We should not fall into the false perception that the Maoists today have deviated from the original ideology of Mao and have become hoodlums and extortionists, but should realise that they have moved closer to the original thought and strategy of ....

Tackling Maoism - Hopes of A Political Consensus

Though, as always, valuable time of parliament was lost in disruptions and political bickering, the just concluded Budget Session had one significant outcome – the emergence of a consensus across the political divide on the need for firm measures t....

Manipur’s Disturbing Downslide of Terrorism, Law and Order and Corruption-2009 and 2010

“When Jammu and Kashmir was blockaded a couple of years ago the matter kept the Government and media preoccupied for months. Manipur has been blockaded for at least a month and a half, without any respite-people are starving, there are no medicines....

The Plight of Manipur

A delegation of intellectuals and prominent citizens from Manipur, led by Col(retd) H Bhuban Singh (former state minister and member of state Public Service Commission), Col (retd) Lokendra Singh, Mr Premananda Sharma (journalist), Bhavananda Singh, ....

Left Wing Extremism – The Threat and Response

Six years back, when on November 4, 2004, the Prime Minister proclaimed Left Wing Extremism as the biggest threat confronting the nation that had to be dealt at ‘war footing’, it had a ring of resolve of a freshly elected government to take the b....

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