Articles by Arup Kumar Sen

Poverty and hunger emerged as a spectre of the Indian state in the 1960s when the possibility of a Red Revolution haunted the political establishment. The first major attempt to measure poverty in India was undertaken by V M Dandekar and N Rath in the late 1960s as a counter-insurgency measure.

The West Bengal Government is planning to raise a special force of Special Police Offi cers (SPOs) across the three Maoist-dominated states of West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia. The SPOs will function as the “eyes and ears” of the regular security forces.

The eminent Bengali sports journalist and writer, Moti Nandi, passed away on 3 January at the age of 79. He changed the face of Bengali sports journalism. The less popular games like athletics, swimming, kabaddi and kho kho found equal importance in his writings.

In a recent interview, Jean Dreze, one of the architects of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), noted that the “hoarding” of job cards by sarpanchs, panchayat secretaries or others is a common problem.

On the eve of the 15th Lok Sabha elections, political scientist Yogendra Yadav has reminded us that evidence from India suggests that electoral democracy is not the preserve of the rich and well heeled.