The Reserve Bank of India has directed all banks to maintain "no-frills accounts" - a bank account at zero balance - for 100% fi nancial inclusion so as to include all households under the ambit of the formal fi nancial sector. This study conducted in 2008 in Hooghly district of West Bengal reveals that the scheme has been largely unsuccessful in the fi nancial inclusion of excluded categories such as the scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, Other Backward Classes and those who are less educated.

This article makes an attempt to examine how far Durkheim's types explain farmer suicides in India and suggests that they correspond to two of his types - egoism and anomie. Agrarian changes having considerably lowered the level of economic achievements of farmers, the disproportion between achievement and aspiration is greatly felt by those who experienced egoism. This study argues that anomie is an effect of egoism. The latter, a structural characteristic of modern agrarian economy and society, is the prerequisite for emergence of the former.

This paper reports results of a household survey in 12 Singur villages, six in which lands were acquired for the Tata car factory, and six neighbouring villages, with random sampling of households within each village.

A relationship of economic growth with income distribution and poverty reduction has been well researched. This article explores the role played by the balance of class power, the nature of the governance regime, and the policy framework to relook at this old debate and asks how the initial conditions and nature of growth affect wealth and distribution.

The Bangladesh tragedy exposes the callousness of the garment business. (Editorial)

One year on, the Maruti workers continue to be punished for demanding their rights. (Editorial)

India’s Wholesale Price Index (WPI) infl ation, which serves as the main policy indicator has shown some decelerating trend since 2010-11, but continues to rule high well above the comfort zone of 4.0-4.5% a year.

This paper provides an ethnographic account of the changing facets of marginality for the Musahars of Uttar Pradesh. It takes a close look at how their identity is shaped by the resistance of those at the margins, by politics, and by interventions on the part of external agencies. The research deconstructs (i) the everyday resistance of the Musahars, as evident from their songs and poetry; (ii) the talk of state officials and state policies about Musahars; and (iii) the discourse of social activists, organisations and donor agencies.

Despite the steps towards gender responsive budgeting, the budgetary allocations for promoting gender equality and women's empowerment show a decline. The gender budget statement in proportion to the total expenditure of the union budget as well as the projected Gross Budgetary Support for Women and Child Development in the Twelfth Five-Year Plan has decreased. Will this affect its ambitious gender agenda?

The legal geopolitics of the Baglihar and Kishenganga hydroelectric power projects, whose legitimacy under the Indus Waters Treaty has been contested by Pakistan, demonstrates the political nature of technology and the governance of technology need not remain out-of-bounds for non-engineers. In attempting an understanding, this article seeks to step outside the conventional nationalist mode of geopolitical analysis.