Rural Credit in 20th Century India
This overview of rural credit in 20th century India finds a remarkable continuity in the problems faced by the poor throughout the period. These include dependence on usurious moneylenders and the...
View ArticleEmployment Guarantee, Civil Society and Indian Democracy
Even as we celebrate 60 years of Indian democracy, with millions of our people hungry, cynical and insecure, and living under the barrel of the gun (of the state or the extremists), we need to worry...
View ArticleTwo Years of NREGA: The Road Ahead
It is not possible to realise the massive potential of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act if we deploy the same ossified structure of implementation that has deeply institutionalised...
View ArticleRainfed Authority and Watershed Reforms
With the long awaited approval of the post-Parthasarathy Committee common guidelines for watershed development finally being given in February 2008, it is time now to push hard for actualising the...
View ArticleRadicalism of NREGA
The brutal murder of young Jharkhand activist Lalit Mehta exposes the violent opposition of vested interests deeply threatened by the radical provisions of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act...
View ArticleDirect Cash Transfers: No Magic Bullet
The reduction of poverty in India requires much more than solutions such as direct cash transfers.read more
View ArticleStructures of Power in Indian Society: A Response
Class cannot be the exclusive axis in understanding power in Indian society. A caste-ridden rural society with an adivasi fringe needs better characterisation than that offered by Partha Chatterjee in...
View ArticleManual Labour and Growth
In their response to my critique of their article on Direct Cash Transfers, Kapur, Mukhopadhyay and Subramanian (EPW, 22 November 2008; henceforth KMS), state “The thought that durable infrastructure...
View ArticleThe Power of Uncertainty: Reflections on the Nature of Transformational...
If uncertainty is at the heart of the knowledge of the world that is possible for us, what implications does this have for transformational initiatives? Does it lead to confusion, enfeeblement,...
View ArticleWater:Towards a Paradigm Shift in the Twelfth Plan
The Twelfth Plan proposes a fundamental change in the principles, approach and strategies of water management in India. This paradigm shift was the outcome of a new and inclusive process of plan...
View ArticleA Response
It is a pleasure to respond to the comments of a serious scholar like Perry, also because it provides an opportunity to clear possible misreadings of my paper and the proposals in the Twelfth Plan.read...
View ArticlePunjab Water Syndrome
The current groundwater crisis in Punjab is a combination of paradoxical consequences - extreme depletion in some areas and water logging in others. This paper provides a brief description of the...
View ArticleCivil Society and Indian Democracy
Spaces available for democratic expression need to be utilised with renewed creativity by those fighting for a more equal, less exploitative social order. There is a need to guard against both the...
View ArticleThe “New” Planning Commission
Planning Commission, Narendra Modi The body that is to replace the Planning Commission must build on the strengths of the existing one even as it addresses the many existing deficiencies.read more
View ArticleRegional Disparities in India
Among the various axes of inequality in India, regional disparities have acquired greater salience in recent times, with demands being made for special status for certain states on this basis. What has...
View ArticleUrban Water Systems in India
urban areas; small towns; water management; groundwater; groundwater typology; groundwater quality; aquifers; waste-water; industrial waste; sewerage systems; sewage treatment plants; public health;...
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