Articles by D Bandyopadhyay

Since Tata Motors has shifted the Nano project from Singur, the company will have to meet the cost of land acquisition, development and the police protection that was provided for two years. The state government should issue a global expression of interest to set up an automobile plant in the area - the land cannot be used for any other purpose.

The national economy is growing at near double-digit rates but neither industry nor non-agricultural activities in rural India have been able to provide livelihoods for millions of rural workers. It is this failure that underlies the spurt in rural violence that has highlighted once again the issue of the poor's access to land, water and forests. It is gradually being recognised that further deterioration of economic, social and political conditions of the rural poor can neither be arrested nor reversed without a significant policy shift towards a comprehensive land reform programme. Land reform means the disempowerment of a small but very powerful number of people. In a democratic society land reform can be undertaken sans bloodshed but not without tears.

Created in the mid-19th century by the colonial rulers to manage their affairs in India, the district magistrate was in charge of administration and collection of revenue. Today, the post has created a dichotomy between the district administration and various self-government institutions at the village and district levels. Given the administrative and bureaucratic problems that arise from such a structure, a pertinent question is whether this office is still functionally valid.

Although in the Constitution dispensation of justice is inherent in the primary function of panchayats, the issue has so far not been addressed with the clarity and focus that it deserved. Against the backdrop of the recent announcement of the union law minister regarding the establishment of gram nyalayas, this article emphasises the need to revitalise the nyaya panchayats in furtherance of the directive principles of the Constitution. This is also necessary for ensuring a participatory and people-oriented system of justice and for providing greater scope to mediation and mitigating the hardship of the poor.

A recent study has highlighted the fact that economic policy changes since the early 1990s have been major contributing factors for the continued misery of farmers in the two southern states of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. State governments, in their efforts to alleviate such misery, need look no further than the policy initiatives taken by the provincial governments, especially in the Madras Presidency under C Rajagopalachari, that came to power in 1937.