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Showing posts from September, 2017

Rohingiya refugees: Whither India's sacred tenet Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam?

By Cedric Prakash sj* ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ meaning ‘the whole world is one family’, is an ancient Sanskrit phrase found in the Maha Upanishad, one of the Sacred Texts of Hinduism. This important phrase underlines a basic tenet of Hindu philosophy, which includes welcoming, hospitality, tolerance, harmony, unity and adaptability. For several centuries, India as a country and a large percentage of Indians have been doing their best to live up to this ideal. India has been home to races, nationalities, tribes, religions and cultures from across the world. India has always been a welcoming home to refugees .During the bloody and painful days of partition, there was a steady influx of refugees into India. Thanks to the statesmanship of India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, several hundreds of thousands of Tibetan refugees (including the Dalai Lama) have made India their home for more than fifty years now. The Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971 saw another major influx into the

Women bear brunt of poverty in a deeply entrenched patriarchal system

By Moin Qazi* A woman with a voice is by definition a strong woman. But the search to find that voice can be remarkably difficult. — Melinda Gates We live in a world in which women living in poverty face gross inequalities and injustice from birth to death. The global statistics on poverty are numbing. The real brunt has always fallen on women and sometimes it is very cruel. Women are commonly married young, quickly become mothers, and are then burdened by stringent domestic and financial responsibilities. Women bear the greater brunt of poverty. In India, where a patriarchal system is deeply entrenched, only 13 per cent of farm land is owned by women. The figure is even lower when it comes to lower caste Dalit women who are single. About 12 per cent of India’s female population is classified as single, including women who are widowed, divorced, separated, and older unmarried women, according to the 2011 census.About 41 percent of households headed by women in India do not own land, an

Corporate social responsibility won't be taken seriously until Dalits have seat on table

By Gagan Sethi* In the new economic scenario, the State is increasingly investing in the infrastructure sector at the cost of social sector. In fact, there is an increasing tendency to leave implementation of developmental programs for the vulnerable sections to contracted NGOs, especially those that are dependent on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). These NGOs are registered as public bodies and enjoy tax exemptions. Time has come to focus on their good governance, to bring them under public scrutiny. Till the mid-1980s, the civil society had three major roles: (a) Reaching out to the most vulnerable sections, and directly intervening in their lives by provisioning basic survival needs and/or special services through an empowerment lens, which seeks to fight dependency. (b) Work with people and technology to innovate and search for solutions with communities on issues of poverty, health, basic service delivery, so that communities begin controlling their own lives and move on to

In violation of legal rights, SC judgments, infringement of right to life

Vadodara-based environmental group Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti’s statement on Narmada mahotsav, to begin on September 17: The Sardar Sarovar Project on Narmada is to affect 244 villages and one township due to its reservoir spread over 40,000 hectares in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat as far as 214 kilometers upstream. Out of 192 villages and one township falling in Madhya Pradesh, at least 150 villages are in the plains, with highest density of population including various occupational categories such as farmers, laborers’, potters, fish workers, boatmen, shopkeepers and various artisans and small entrepreneurs. The adivasis in hilly areas are communities living on the agricultural land as well as forest and fish. The whole of the area and village communities that are to be affected is scheduled tribe where PESA should be applicable. There are at least 40,000 families residing in the submergence area today (the original villages with generations old communities). The hilly com

Self help groups vital for ending poverty, improving women's financial security

By Moin Qazi* We live in a world in which women living in poverty face gross inequalities and injustice from birth to death. From poor education to poor nutrition to vulnerable and low pay employment, the sequence of discrimination that a woman may suffer during her entire life is unacceptable but all too common. Societies that invest in and empower women are on a virtuous cycle. They become richer, more stable, better governed, and less prone to fanaticism. Yet women face significant constraints in maximizing their productivity. They often do not have equal access to productive inputs or to markets for their goods In addition to economic factors, the rigidity of socially ascribed gender roles and women’s limited access to power, education, training and productive resources as well as other emerging factors. The women need a raft of services to move the economic ladder. Over years of wandering the villages, I have been compelled to revise much of my received wisdom about what our rural