Actor Smriti Kalra visited the Rajya Sabha and new Parliament in Delhi to celebrate the passing of Women Reservation Bill, and she calls it a moment of pride and honour. “It has been a long journey since 1996, when the bill was first presented and it was passed after several attempts.

One of the important determinants of poverty in both absolute and relative terms is the level and growth of wages in an economy.

Drawing on empirical data from four gram panchayats in Orissa, the paper examines the ‘representation’ of elected representatives—more particularly those of disadvantaged categories—by exploring their participation in the governance process, responsiveness towards the interest o