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Showing posts from September, 2021

RTI reveals huge gender gap in opening PM Jan Dhan bank accounts

By Venkatesh Nayak*  Readers may recall reading my despatch from earlier this month about the data discrepancy in the implementation of the scheme of ex gratia payment of INR 500 (i.e., US$ 20 where every US$ 1 = INR 74.69 as on 26th March, 2020) per month to more than 20 crore (200 million) women under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) COVID-19 relief package. On 28th August, 2021, the Union Finance Ministry had claimed that a sum of INR 30,945 crores (or INR 309.45 Billion = US$ 4.143 Billion) had been deposited in the no-frills Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) bank accounts of women belonging to weaker sections and low income groups of society as part of this ex gratia payment scheme over a three-month period in April, May and June, 2020. I had pointed to the numerous discrepancies in the implementation statistics voluntarily disclosed by the Union Finance Ministry on the one hand and on the other, the district-wise data which the Union Ministry of Rural Deve

Book review: Sociology of witnessing backlash from the so-called ordinary

By Simi Mehta* A book discussion on “In Defense of the Ordinary” by Dr. Dev Nath Pathak was organised on the 16th of August by Center of Human Dignity and Development (CHDD) at the Impact and Policy Research Institute , New Delhi. The distinguished panelist included the Author and Speaker – Dr. Dev Nath Pathak, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, South Asian University, New Delhi. The discussants were Prof Nivedita Menon, Professor at Centre for Comparative Politics and Political Theory, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, Prof Ashok Acharya, Professor in the Department of Political Science, University of Delhi and Prof Santosh K Singh, Chandigarh-based Academic and Commentator; Formerly Founder Faculty with the Ambedkar University. Building a case for the defence of the ordinary Dr. Dev Nath Pathak in his opening remarks stated the book is a result of the personal challenges that he experienced in the last 10 years of his academic practices – in resonance with public issues.

Hold your breath! UK ex-Muslims to celebrate Blasphemy Day on September 30

Soheil Arabi The Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain (CEMB), in a suprise move, has decided to observe September 30 as the Blasphemy Day. In an email alert, Maryam Namazie, CEMB spokesperson, has asked anyone interested to join CEMB in celebrating blasphemy by " uploading your photo into our #blasphemyday frame and sharing on social media."

My association with Kamala Bhasin, to whom Dalit women’s lives were more precious

By Martin Macwan*  It was sometimes may be 10 years ago or more that I received a mail from Kamala Bhasin, asking me if I could be a guest speaker for a day to a workshop organized by her organization Sangat for women from different walks of life from south Asian countries to speak on the subject of Caste. It was my first personal meeting with her though I knew her from reading her book, “Sparshbhed” along with some of her poems including ‘Ulti sulti mitto’. At Dalit Shakti Kendra and Navsarjan, we used Kamala’s books as more than a training material. There have been other occasions later when I have been treated like a family member at more Sangat workshops. Kamala did join the Dalit Foundation Board for a brief period and I met her occasionally as member of the Jagori. But to know her, one had to meet her outside the narrow walls of the organizations. Her identity has been predominantly that of a feminist. Little has been known that she brought in the realities of caste within the na

Forthcoming book explodes Western myth: Personal qualities are biologically inherited

By Jonathan Latham*   The contention of the book is that the key organising principle of Western thought is the seemingly innocuous and seemingly simple idea that our personal qualities are biologically inherited. That is, our character derives from our ancestors rather than being an always-adapting product of our own experiences, decisions, and education. The book makes the case, first, that genetic determinism is a scientific fallacy. Organisms are self-organised systems and therefore are not genetically determined. Second, the explanation for the myth, which predates Mesopotamian cities of 6,000 years ago, is its utility. Genetic determinism rationalises political systems based on genetic privilege. The result of the emergence of genetic determinism was the dismantling of ancient cultures based on inclusiveness, cohesion, and egalitarianism and their transformation into rigid structures of authoritarian domination based on separation and division: into families, classes, races, nati

WednesdaysforWater: Urban-rural water sustainability faces multiple challenges

By Nishant Saxena, Manisha Sharma, Fawzia Tarannum, Mansee Bal Bhargava* In India, nearly 60% of rural households have drinking water facilities within their premises whereas, the figure touches 80% in the urban areas , according to the National Sample Survey . Such urban-rural disparity is evident globally also and thus calls for addressing access to water from equitable and sustainable perspectives. Sustainable water management refers to a way of using water ensuring the current social, ecological, and economic needs are met without compromising the capabilities to meet those needs in the future. It requires stakeholders (in the government, residential, businesses, industries, agriculture, energy, infrastructure, etc.) including the water practitioners to look beyond the administrative, jurisdictional, and bureaucratic boundaries besides the immediate supply operations, managing water collaboratively while seeking resilient regional solutions that minimizes risks. It is urgent that

Diaspora protest as Biden failed to publicly address persecution of minorities in India

As Modi addressed UN, human rights groups decried “monstrosity” of persecution of Muslims, Christians, Dalits, and other minorities in India. Demonstrators gathered outside UN to protest fascism, hate campaigns, weaponized rape, apartheid, lynchings, unlawful arrests, attacks on the media, and other abuses in India: A report distributed by the diaspora group Hindus for Human Rights: *** While observers said it was “shameful” that President Biden failed to publicly address widespread persecution of religious minorities in India when he met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 24, more than 100 members of interfaith and human rights groups spoke out as Modi addressed the United Nations General Assembly. Speakers condemned the egregious human rights violations and murders of religious minorities in India under a government that openly supports Hindu supremacy. The rally was sponsored by 21 organizations, including Ambedkar International Center, Ambedkar King S

UN Food Systems Summit paved the way for greater control of big corporations

In a sharp critique of the  UN Food Systems Summit, a statement released by the People's Coalition on Food Sovereignty, a global network of NGOs, has accused UN meet of being steered by big corporations, even as the Global South was pushed back. *** The Global People’s Summit (GPS) on Food Systems slammed the recently concluded UN Food Systems Summit (UN FSS) for paving the way for greater control of big corporations over global food systems and misleading the people through corporate-led false solutions to hunger and climate change. “It was just as we expected. While branding itself as the ‘People’s Summit’ and even the ‘Solutions Summit,’ the UN FSS did not listen to the voices of marginalized rural peoples, nor forward real solutions to the food, biodiversity and climate crises. Instead, it let powerful nations and big corporations play an even bigger role in determining food and agricultural policies. The UN has finally made it clear what ‘multilateralism’ is all about—paying l

India's small and medium towns should become drivers of change

By Arup Mitra, Ayush Singh* The million plus cities and other large cities comprise the bulk of the urban investment and undertake a wide range of economic activities. Migrants from all economic spheres are therefore, attracted to these cities for earning their livelihood and experiencing upward mobility. Even an informal sector worker gets better off by moving to a large city compared to a small town. Though the level of congestion and other diseconomies are enormously large in large cities, fresh rounds of investments keep pouring in, which in turn shift the curves representing the economies and diseconomies of scale. As a result, the optimal city size keeps increasing with every round of fresh investment flowing into the city. What happens to the thousands of small and medium sized towns? To begin with, very few of them have strong drivers of growth. Except the satellite towns, which are close to the large cities and receive parts of the economic activities spilling over from the la

Why do I oppose Gandhi Ashram renovation? Letter to PM, Gujarat CM, Ashram trustees

By Martin Mawan*  One would not expect an activist working on Dalit rights to join such a protest. Dalits carry unhealed trauma that Gandhi caused to Dr Ambedkar and the Dalit cause of effective political representation by using violent means of his own definition in the event of the Poona Pact. This apart, Gandhi’s ideas in general, which changed often, on caste were orthodox. I have nothing to add to the subject after the sharpest critique offered by Dr Ambedkar. One would wonder, why do I lend my support to the voices of protest to the proposed World Class Renovation of Gandhi Ashram. My reasons for doing so are the following:In spite of grave ideological differences, both Dr Ambedkar and Gandhi, did not lose respect for one another. It was Dr Ambedkar who set aside all the bitterness on the third day after the Poona pact to visit Gandhi on latter’s calling, to solace the old man who was attacked by the orthodox Hindus calling him the ‘Rakshasa’ for agreeing to the Poona pact. Sarda