Solutions to Change

By Sambhavi Ganesh* For a federal unit belonging to a country characterized by a prolonged national movement and the subsequent Congress dominated scenario, Tamil Nadu has surprisingly escaped the national electoral trends by and large. Since 1967, the main political parties operating in Tamil Nadu have been offering an alternative Dravidian ideology in response to the Hindi-Hindu-Hindustani mobilization of much of the rest of India, diversifying the political processes of the country to a significant degree. This article attempts to understand the results of the 2016 Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu by exploring reasons for the ADMK’s victory, the DMK’s loss, and some general factors that bring a party to power in the state.  Anti-incumbency rule takes a hit The state has been characterized by a constant swing between All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK/ADMK) and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) governments since 1989. Exit polls had largely p...

By Mugdha Ghaisas*   With the city population growing there is an increasing pressure on the existing infrastructure like housing, health, transportation etc. which fails to cater to the demand, demanding an increase in the infrastructural capacity of the city. Along with these infrastructural deficiencies, the growing cities face much more serious problems in terms of waste management and sanitation facilities. In India, the onus of waste management lies with the local bodies as per the 73rd and 74th Constitutional amendments. In spite of coming up with various waste management plans, the local bodies are not able to address the problem efficiently; two of the reasons being: lack of citizens' participation and a centralised waste management plan by the urban local bodies. The 73rd and 74th amendment are meant to facilitate a decentralised governance structure empowering the local bodies to improve service delivery and programme implementation at the local level....