Lowdown on Lokpal

In the long wait for a Lokpal, have we diluted the nature of the ombudsman? In a historic move, retired Supreme Court judge Pinaki Chandra Ghose was appointed as the country’s first ever anti-corruption ombudsman—or Lokpal—after a PM-led selection committee comprising Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, and senior advocate […]

Main Bhi Chowkidar

After the surge of #MaiBhiChowkidar among politcians, let’s look at some of the stories of the real-life chowkidars Ajay works as a security guard with the Total Security Agency (or an agency with a name that’s nearly as absolute). He belongs to Bhagalpur. He lives with his family in a slum near Seelampur in Delhi. […]

Chaos and stagnation

Shopkeepers in the area remember the shock of demonetisation and continue to suffer from neglect by the civic authorities The West Delhi constituency is a perfect example of the state of planning in Delhi — or the lack of. While you have the wide stretch of roads and empty spaces with parks in inner Dwarka, […]

Victims of policies

The Seemapuri slum area has been fighting lonely battles as it has never once seen its MP after the last election When someone says Delhi, what comes to mind is imposing buildings, five-star hotels, clean roads and the swanky metro railways. But far removed from all this, in one corner of the North East Delhi […]

In a village far away

Voters living in Narela’s resettlement colony Shahpur Garhi suffer as DDA’s development work drags on at a snail’s pace “Yeh to gramin kshetra hain. Yaha kuch vikas nahi hua, baaki gramino ki tarah. Na koi transport hain, na koi paani ka suvidha (This is a village. No development has taken place here. Like many other […]

REHAB ON WHEELS

First of its kind in India, this van endeavours to keep substance abuse off the streets of Delhi, and brings recovery medication closer to those who need it Tucked away in a small and not-so-busy street in Seemapuri, is a small van that sits there for two hours every day, from 9 am to 11am […]

Tender minds at risk

Cases of child depression are on the rise, owing to several factors that have taken kids away from positive habits. This is of concern to parents and teachers Arpana Narayan, a 34-year-old entrepreneur, waits in the lobby as her son goes inside the counsellor’s room for his third therapy session. Aarav, 11-year-old, has been struggling […]

First-time voters are as aware as the older lot

One and a half crore people – half the size of Australia’s total population – is the number of first-time voters registered for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in India, as declared by the Election Commission. The number is a testament to the fact that young voters can hold the key to which party leads […]