It has been happening for several years under the nose of the Haryana administration. The nation's top government auditor has issued multiple indictments. And yet they have polluted recklessly. Himanshu Upadhyaya tells the tale.

Narnaul illustrates above all the value of investing in women. Many have continued to be active and involved even though they have little practical support from the Municipal Council, writes Kalpana Sharma.

A first-of-its-kind women-only BPO started by 'Harva' in a Haryana village is all set to harness the rural talent while changing the rigid mindset of the people, transforming rural economy, writes Hemlata Aithani.

Venu Govindu reviews Siddharth Dube's Words Like Freedom : Memoirs of an Impoverished Indian Family 1947-1997

This May 1, taking a resolute stand, the Supreme Court directed the Union and state governments to take specific measures to address the desperate crisis of food for drought-affected communities.

Focussed monitoring of the implementation of the Supreme Court's May 2003 directives on the Right-to-food litigation is beginning to pay off, say the campaigners.

From Urban Poverty Alleviation Initiatives in India : A General Assessment and a Particular Perspective (2002), a publication of the Ramanathan Foundation.
Interact: What about bank red-tape and corruption?

From Urban Poverty Alleviation Initiatives in India : A General Assessment and a Particular Perspective (2002), a publication of the Ramanathan Foundation.

From Urban Poverty Alleviation Initiatives in India : A General Assessment and a Particular Perspective (2002), a publication of the Ramanathan Foundation.

From Urban Poverty Alleviation Initiatives in India : A General Assessment and a Particular Perspective (2002), a publication of the Ramanathan Foundation.

Concluding article of the series from Urban Poverty Alleviation Initiatives in India : A General Assessment and a Particular Perspective (2002), a publication of the Ramanathan Foundation.

Administrators must work with service organizations to tackle the problems leading up to the symptom. Varupi Jain reports on those seeking alms on Delhi's streets.

The Supreme Court and the overwhelming majority of academics and NGOs believe in it. A growing number of poor parents have emerged as a pressure group for this programme, report Kalpana Parikh & Summiya Yasmeen.

The numbers of those seeking active employment is likely to reach 692 million by 2007. A towering tide looms ahead, reports Safia Sircar.

Migrant labourers of MP are stuck in debt in Maharashtra and also in a system that assures no health coverage for their hazardous occupation of stone crushing. Jaideep Hardikar recounts their travails.

Shouldn't “fixing the delivery system” itself be one of the central planks of second-generation reforms, asks Ramesh Ramanathan.

The National Advisory Council sent a draft National Rural Employment Guarantee Act to the UPA government this August. The Prime Minister has since committed to bring the Act into Parliament this winter session. Rasika Dhavse reviews the proposed law, its entitlements and promises. See also: Interview with Jean Dreze, NAC member.

Despite the intervention of the Supreme Court, the state government is a long way from meeting its commitment to eradicate child hunger and deaths due to malnutrition. As a result, an already insecure condition for millions of children shows no sign of improvement. Rasika Dhavse reports.

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.

The senior citizens of Chingrajpara slum in Bilaspur are unable to benefit from the largesse of the many government departments in New Delhi. In this fifth article in our SLUM DIARIES series, Ashima Sood notes that they go begging in the alleys of the slum, depending instead on their more reliable humble neighbours.

The National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) is to be implemented in 200 districts around the country in the first phase. One of the main challenges will be to ward off corruption. Surekha Sule was recently involved in conducting a training programme, and notes how some villages in Andhra Pradesh are gearing up.

The budget reflects our continued affliction for numbers and the GDP growth rate. It also follows the Prime Minister's insistence that planners shoot for higher growth rates, especially on the back of an economy that has surprised everyone. But, asks Sudhirendar Sharma, will the juggling of numbers do it?

The numbers are among the worst in the world. But instead of addressing the infinite nightmare of poverty, the Indian government appears to be doing away with the poor altogether by statistical jugglery and artificially lowering the poverty line, says Colin Gonsalves.

Residents of our slums often pay more than their better-off counterparts for the most essential services. Aditi Dimri and Amiya Sharma discovered the poverty premium through a survey of Sanjay Colony, a slum in Okhla phase II, Delhi, with a population of around 40,000.

The Prime Minister, citing no credible evidence, says small shopkeepers will not be hurt by the entry of large foreign retailiers into the country. His party president, on the other hand, is asking him to go slow on this front. Will this lead to a different course in the government's thinking, or is this simply a smoke-screen, asks Devinder Sharma.

By and large, poorer and badly-run states like Bihar and Orissa have seen higher inflation resulting from the NREGA windfall, while in the better-off states with less money flowing in through the scheme, inflation is much lower. Clearly, meddling in markets will show up in ways that are not necessarily all good, writes Sunil Jain.

Once, Andhra Pradesh's top leaders queued up at Bandi Lachmamma's home with promises. The debate on farm suicides hit the headlines when her husband took his life. Years later, she works as a coolie in Anantapur earning much less than the minimum assured by the NREGP - which turns away single women, writes P Sainath.

In 11 of the poorest districts in the country, a citizens' audit of development, modeled on an earlier study of education, helps residents themselves easily identify how their areas fare on key measures. Rukmini Banerjee and Shanti Jagannathan introduce PAHELI, the People's Audit of Health, Education and Livelihoods.

If our media can provide regular updates on the stock markets, foreign exchange and bullion rates, weather, pollution, etc., surely they can add a poverty watch? The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty passed on 17 October, and Ammu Joseph scanned the national press from Bangalore.

I could smell Buddham Bai before I could see her. She was covered with layers of clothes once white, laced with the acrid odour of incontinence, of old age. Arpan Tulsyan reports on one woman's poverty and homelessness in the capital.

A unique strength of the NREGS is that citizens have the right to oversee its implementation, by direct scrutiny of its records. Sandeep Pandey provides daily updates on the progress of the social audit of the scheme in UP's Unnao district.

The complaints are many and often justified. People are sometimes exasperated by the way the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme works. But there is unanimity on its worth and value, writes P Sainath.

Though the homeless exist in large numbers, society tries to render them invisible, says a recent study on homelessness in four Indian cities. Arpan Tulsyan reports on the findings.

Several cases of starvation deaths have been reported in Orissa, especially in areas with high tribal populations. Added to this, government inaction in response to the crisis deepens people's woes. Arpan Tulsyan reports.

Xavier's Foundation in Guwahati has come up with the idea of establishing a Clothes Bank for the poor. It estimates that up to 3 million people may have need for its clothes. Ratna Bharali Talukdar reports.

Arvind Sinha's new film travels into streets and bylanes of a Kolkata we do not generally get to see, thus throwing up a collage of the city from a perspective many are not familiar with. Shoma Chatterji reviews the film.

Most governments that stressed welfarist measures gained in last month's elections. Food prices and cheap rice are crucial, though not the sole issues, notes P Sainath.

The rains may have failed Bundelkhand but more than this it is the governments that have forsaken the people over the years. Kannan Kasturi reports.

BPL politics at the central level is skewed, and quotas are fixed for every state, regardless of the actual number of people who need to be protected. Pradeep Baisakh reports on one family's near-total loss.

CIC Shailesh Gandhi orders that information about the public distribution system and its beneficiaries should be made public, offering hope that a corrupt system may finally see some reform. Shaweta Anand reports.

Even as the state government refuses to accept the cause behind the recent 50 starvation deaths reported by the media, hunger stalks the people of Balangir and other KBK districts in Orissa portending more such tragedies, writes Pradeep Baisakh.

The Suresh Tendulkar Committee's estimate of poverty in the country has reopened the debate on how the poor should be counted, what benefits they should receive from the state, and how. Darryl D'Monte reports.

A few innovative steps, taken urgently, can greatly bridge the gap in access to electricity for poor consumers. Structural reform will take years, and given its complexity and poor record so far, cannot be the only pre-occupation, write Sreekumar N and Shantanu Dixit.

Only when we think of providing the basic necessities to the millions of poor women around India will empowerment mean anything for them, writes R Balasubramaniam.

With the proposed switch from food rations to direct cash payments to the poor, the government may be trying to free itself from its commitment to supply each BPL family with a certain quantity of food. Kannan Kasturi reports.

Why is there a huge discrepancy between official calculations of poverty and the alternative figures arrived at by many scholars as well as development agencies, asks Prahlad Shekhawat.

To improve food security and to bring extensive lands now left fallow into cultivation again, the government must support millets just as it supports rice and wheat. Karuna M reports.

The UIDAI has repeatedly emphasized its pro-poor mission, but it is unlikely to succeed without help from NGOs who work with the poor. For this, senior civil society leaders must endorse the project, writes Raju Rajagopal.

Based on a laboratory understanding of nutrition, the government's public food support programmes and agriculture policies have condemned the poor to a daily diet that is of limited nutrition value. Rupa Chinai reports.

This linkage between agriculture and nutrition, and its impact on development indices is very clear, and a number of recent reports point the finger of blame at agricultural policies. Rupa Chinai reports.