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Monday, March 30, 2026
TopicState of the State

Topic: State of the State

‘State of The State’ is a series by Sanjeev Chopra that analyses policy, civil services, and governance in India. 

Sanjeev Chopra is a historian and Festival Director of Valley of Words. Till recently, he was the Director of the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration.

UPSC debarring Puja Khedkar isn’t enough. Those who conspired with her must be punished too

Sanjeev Chopra -
Those like us will draw the lesson that while passing executive instructions or quasi-judicial orders, attention should be paid not just ‘to the spirit, but also to the letter of the law’.

Statue of Unity is central to IAS officers for Modi’s Aarambh course

Sanjeev Chopra -
Patel integrated all the 562 princely states and laid the foundations of a strong civil service structure. All fresh entrants must take their inspiration from his works.

India’s Amul milk model has a lot to teach its state cereals, pulses procurement schemes

Sanjeev Chopra -
Only when the procurement of an entire range of commodities – from Manipur oranges and Uttarkashi apples to Sunderban raw honey– is put on an even and transparent keel will India’s rural economy grow.

For SMART police, India needs to train constables in law, forensics, tech. Not just their bodies

Sanjeev Chopra -
For long, ‘order’ took precedence over ‘law’ in India. It’s time to select the right constables.

NAFED, IFFCO, ICAR can fix India’s food security by going global

Sanjeev Chopra -
Our leading agribusiness organisations and farmers can set up agriculture operations in Central Asia, Latin America, and Africa where arable lands are aplenty.

NTA exam centres for IITs, AIIMS set to go global. Next wave in Indian education

Sanjeev Chopra -
From wresting the ICS exam from the UK to Delhi to the rise of IITs, India has come a long way. There's no stopping now.

Why Murshidabad lost out to Calcutta—Unlike Mughals, British didn’t depend on banking families

+TFP Sanjeev Chopra -
Murshidabad was one of the first districts established by the East Indian Company. Now Mamata Banerjee govt is set to trifurcate it.

Modi govt takes IAS promotions to next level—Additional, Joint Secretary now come closer

Sanjeev Chopra -
Under the new system, even though the undersecretary will be promoted to a deputy secretary and then to a director, the function will remain the same.

India has 71 towns, cities under Police Commissionerate. It just creates hierarchy

Sanjeev Chopra -
There is a need to re-examine not just the 1861 Police Act, but also the colonial practice of four-stage recruitment and the non-involvement of city governments in law and order.

India is understaffed. PM’s nudge to fill lakhs of public sector job is affordable and doable

Sanjeev Chopra -
From teachers to doctors to IAS officers, India has lakhs of vacancies. Keeping them empty hurts our Sustainable Development Goals.
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On Camera

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Opinion

How West Asia crisis can play out for PM Modi and BJP in Assembly polls

D.K. Singh -
While the Russia-Ukraine war saw the BJP projecting PM Modi as a ‘vishwaguru’ who could end international conflicts, the party has made a nuanced shift in its electoral strategy vis-à-vis the West Asia war.

What are Western mercenaries doing in Myanmar? India must stay vigilant

India can welcome Lakshmi and build a Dubai-style tax haven

Economy

Foreign investors dump record $12 bn India stocks in March on war

Ashutosh Joshi -
Soaring energy costs have hurt oil-importing Asian peers, but the scale of outflows from India points to already bearish global sentiment.

Defence

1st batch of 2,000 India-made Israeli Negev LMGs delivered to Army; 4,000 more to be delivered this year

Snehesh Alex Philip -
The Indian Army is set to get another 4,000 of these LMGs as part of a contract signed in August 2024 to replace the 5.56x45mm INSAS LMG.

National Interest

Gulf war exposed India’s fragilities. It’s time for navel-gazing, in the national interest

Shekhar Gupta -
It’s easy to understand why the government can’t speak the hard truth. When this war ends, as all wars do, India’s interests will lie with both the winner and the loser.

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