Articles by Ajit Kumar

This response to "Generating Agrarian Dynamism: Saurashtra's Lessons for Vidarbha" (Tushaar Shah, Yashree Mehta, Vivek Kher, and Alka Palrecha, EPW, 28 June 2014) agrees in part with the authors but contests their claim that stepping up public investment in agriculture is not the only way of accelerating agricultural growth.

“One More Sloth Bear Dies”. So ran the headline of a news item in the Bangalore edition of Deccan Herald (1 February 2013, p 2).

Village politics has shown considerable change since the 1960s when the panchayati raj system was introduced in Maharashtra. A study in Nagpur district shows that while in the early years caste considerations strongly influenced most panchayat decisions, by the 1990s institutional politics had a broader base including many caste categories. But it may be too early to conclude that the feudal ethos of power is indeed giving way to a more modern orientation.

Ajit Kumar VIDARBHA, in Maharashtra is known, if at all, for its 'backwardness'. But among its nine districts, one district, viz, Wardha enjoys a special status in contemporary Indian history. Wardha's claim to fame can be traced to Gandhi's decision to stay there during the last phase of the independence movement and particularly after 1936 it became the unofficial capital of India with Bajajwadi, the estate of Jamnalal Bajaj becoming the meeting place of the Congress Working Committee. Nationalist leaders like Nehru, Bose, Azad, etc, used to camp at Bajajwadi frequently to meet Gandhi. Inevitably, in the post-independence period, Wardha lost much of its earlier importance till Vinoba Bhave launched the Bhoodan movement. Even this short-lived importance would have ebbed away had it not been for Indira Gandhi's impromptu visits to Paunar for Vinoba's 'darshan The tradition of visits was continued by the present prime minister but the venue shifted from Paunar to Sevagram (in the interregnum Vinoba Bhave had passed away).

Government Take-over of Empress Mills Anuradha Ghandhy Ajit Kumar The story of the century old Empress Mills which was taken over by the government a year ago is a case study of how Indian industrialists have circumvented legislations designed to protect labour with impunity and have deliberately mismanaged and neglected an industry once it has ceased to be profitable. It is also a telling comment on the policies of Rashtriya Mill Mazdoor Sabha which followed a policy of 'close co-operation' with the management at the cost of workers' interests. The retrenchment of thousands of workers in the course of the take-over has badly affected areas like Vidarbha where Nagpur's Empress Mill had been a major source of employment.