For as long as anyone can remember, the people of Pipari have lived as
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The wealthy, upper-caste landlord forced them to work his
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They were dalits, the lowest caste, with houses made of cattle dung, clothing in tatters and barely enough food for a meal and a half a day. They were trapped below the bottom,
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Until, one day, with the help of the world's largest social welfare program, they did.
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The roots of Pipari's revolt lie in the latest effort to
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Earlier programs intended to
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They distributed the cheap food, but kept a cut to sell at
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So legions of critics rolled their eyes when the
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But the law was largely shaped by social
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The program -- which has given work to more than 52 million
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"It's incredibly ambitious," said Jean Dreze, a development
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When corrupt officials siphoned off part of the villagers'
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When "agents" began gathering at the banks to help workers fill out
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The program has had an uneven impact across India. In some places, like
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And even the program's supporters admit it is
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But the program has also won accolades from surprising
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As Time Goes By DVD India weather the global economic downturn.
"There is a huge amount of scope for
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Pipari is so far at the bottom, its
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It is mixed with mud to construct brittle homes baked pale
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There is no electricity, no running water and not a single toilet or
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The villagers are chamars, from the untouchable caste of
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Buffy the Vampire Slayer DVD set peasants tending farms on behalf of their upper-caste landlords.
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