Articles by George Mathew

From the beginning of the 1990s, there seems to be a positive change in the outlook towards decentralised institutions. In the emerging scenarios both panchayats and voluntary agencie, have a crucial role to play and can work together effectively if they view each other as partners rather than contenders in the process of decentralisation and development.

with any entrenched interest group, There were clear indications of this kind of thinking in the finance minister's mini budget speech on the occasion of the vote on account. But this would be irresponsibility at its worst, not just because it would put future development efforts in jeopardy (and notably muddy any prospects of finalisation of the Eighth Plan, already delayed by a year) but also because it would simply postpone the hardest decisions as regards government's economic policy.

Tamil Nadu was the centre of an important sociological debate following the conversions of an entire Harijan village to Islam in February 1981. Subsequently there were conversions in several bother villages of the state. This invoked reactions from all sections of society and from June till October 1981 the mass media, political parties, religious organisations, and, not the least, the state and Central government devoted considerable attention to these conversion.