Articles
Jan 01 2005
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Rerouting the call of the needy
Is a nationwide employment guarantee for the rural poor really unaffordable? No. But neither our ideologies nor our governments rank such an entitlement very highly. The Centre has instead proposed a watered down guarantee, without actually providing it. The India Together editorial.
Dec 10 2004
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When violence is not news
The challenge before the media is to move beyond clubbing what happens to women with routine crime briefs, on the one hand, and sensational stories, on the other, to cover "the greatest human rights scandal of our times". Ammu Joseph looks at media coverage of violence against women.
Dec 04 2004
Persistent and tenacious struggle
: Persistent and tenacious struggle
2004 saw many victories for the survivors of the Bhopal gas tragedy, giving them and their supporters more hope. Both courts in India and the US ruled to bring justice closer and campaigners pressured a reluctant Central government to finally act on their behalf. Kavitha Kuruganti reports.
Dec 01 2004
Cleaning up Bhopal cost-effectively
: Cleaning up Bhopal cost-effectively
In addition to the aftermath of Bhopal's catastrophic gas leak of 1984, severe contamination of water and soil has taken its own toll on citizens. At a Greenpeace organized November 2004 symposium, experts put the cost of cleanup in the range of Rs.135 crores. K Rajani Priya looks at the possibilities.
Dec 01 2004
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Death knell for low cost medicines
Medicine prices nationwide are likely to go up soon, including at public hospitals and dispensaries. Domestic manufacturers will withdraw critical but cheaper medicines as India gets ready to fulfill WTO obligations. Devinder Sharma argues that this is the beginning of a scientific apartheid.
Dec 01 2004
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PC or PC? Who sets the policy?
The Planning Commission is urging higher Central funding of large irrigation projects, but the Finance Minister promised more decentralised water management. What's going on? Meanwhile, Himanshu Upadhyaya thumbs through a CAG report and finds that these projects don't lack money - what they really need is accountability.
Dec 01 2004
Classes everywhere, not a stop to think
: Classes everywhere, not a stop to think
Many teenagers in Mumbai are spending their evenings on the "untiring toil" of tuitions, trying to learn what their teachers should have been teaching them in junior college but don't. This is a system that unthinkingly takes away these kids' leisure time, says Dilip D'Souza.
Dec 01 2004
The lucky rag picker
: The lucky rag picker

She only knows at the end of each day whether there will be enough money to survive tomorrow. Does this woman have rights, the right to produce a child? Or should someone else decide what her rights are, and conclude that sterilisation is the only option, asks Kalpana Sharma.

Dec 01 2004
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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.
Dec 01 2004
Slow progress towards sanitation
: Slow progress towards sanitation
At an international forum earlier this month, government claims of progress on providing water and sanitation were challenged by a number of NGOs. Darryl D'Monte reports.
Dec 01 2004
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So near to God, so far from Heaven
Church income has fallen sharply as the laity have gone into debt in Wayanad. But the larger reality is also more complex. While the church does reflect the pain of its farmer base, it is also, in some cases, a source of at least a few of the dues that worry them, notes P Sainath.
Dec 01 2004
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Development advocacy: is it working?
Now that the early days of the UPA government are behind us, we must begin to judge the administration not by its responsiveness to advocacy alone. Even when governments listen, deeper gaps in the policy arena can thwart progress, and the challenge is to overcome these as well. The India Together editorial.
Dec 01 2004
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Hope dies slowly in Wayanad
Many plantations have shut down, throwing thousands out of work. The once-numerous Tamil migrant labourers are far fewer today, and out-migration of local labour is the new trend. P Sainath finds the off-screen agrarian crisis is very dramatic too, and has emptied the audiences for big screens in the region.
Dec 01 2004
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EGA sabotaged?
In its Common Minimum Programme the UPA government promised to tackle unemployment. In September a draft Rural Employment Guarantee Act was put together by the National Advisory Council. Now, however, it appears that vital portions of that draft are likely to be diluted before the legislation is tabled in Parliament.
Dec 01 2004
"Few believe that speech is free"
: "Few believe that speech is free"
Does Indian media influence readers' opinion? As 2004 draws to a close, what lessons can be drawn from the NDA's much analysed India Shining campaign and the surprising elections outcome that followed? Arvind Rajagopal, the author of Politics after Television, talks to Chitrangada Choudhury.
Dec 01 2004
Too little for the little ones
: Too little for the little ones
Sairam Bhat notes that the provisions in the laws for tackling paedophilia as well as the incestuous abuse of children are far from adequate.
Dec 01 2004
Less seed, more harvest
: Less seed, more harvest
The System of Rice Intensification may provide small and marginal rice farmers a way out of their perennial worries - for water, better yields, and the preservation of soil health. Rajeev Natarajan reports on one farmer in Tamilnadu, whose tentative beginning has now turned into a strong conviction.
Dec 01 2004
Vital reform agenda for Indian education
: Vital reform agenda for Indian education
To mark its fifth anniversary, EducationWorld asked several educationists and industry leaders with proven commitment to improving the education system to write prescriptions for a renaissance of Indian education. Dilip Thakore threads the responses together.
Dec 01 2004
A classroom for leaders
: A classroom for leaders
Eight years and counting since the first local body elections, only a handful of the panchayats has woken up to the powers devolved into them. The Panchayat Academy is working to change that, helping local leaders learn from and teach each other how much more meaningful their leadership can be. Krithika Ramalingam reports.
Dec 01 2004
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Fewer jobs, more buses in Wayanad
It's no longer just landless labourers on the bus to Kutta. Many masons and carpenters are also crossing the border into Karnataka in search of work, spurred on by the collapse of employment in Wayanad. P Sainath continues his series on the agrarian crisis in Wayanad.