A quiver-full of
humanitarian legislation has been brought on the statute book by the Sonia
Gandhi-Manmohan Singh power structure since 2001. Of these, the Mahatma Gandhi
National Rural Employment Guarantee Act of 2005 (MNREGA) should salve the
conscience of the haves-most. However, one’s first instinct is to be critical
of an Act that guarantees 100-days’ employment to all unskilled rural workers
above the age of 18 years. A corrosive and debilitating cynicism pervades the
politi
is the author of two novels, Comrade Sahib and A Twisted Cue. He was an assistant editor of The Indian Express and a war correspondent during the 1965 Indo-Pak war.
