Even as we celebrate 60 years of Indian democracy, with millions of our people hungry, cynical and insecure, and living under the barrel of the gun (of the state or the extremists), we need to worry about the reach and quality of our political process. The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act has the potential to provide a "big push" in India's regions of distress. For NREGA to be able to realise its potential, the role of civil society organisations is critical. But this calls for a new self-critical politics of fortitude, balance and restraint.

AT the time of independence, India faced the twin problems of acute and chronic undernutrition of its children. This was essentially a result of low dietary intake because of poverty and low purchasing power, high prevalence of infection because of poor access to safe drinking water, sanitation and health care and poor utilization of available facilities due to low literacy and lack of awareness.

India's children continue to face a huge backlog of deprivations. For instance, India in 2005 reported an IMR of 58 deaths per 1000 live births. In contrast, China reported in 2005 an IMR of 23 and Bangladesh of 54. Neonatal deaths that account for 65% of infant mortality remain exceptionally high. In 2005-06, some 46% of children under three years were moderately or severely underweight