During the lockdown, migrant workers have produced ‘proofs’ to lay claim to promised aid, display grief and gratitude, and to archive violence they faced. These fragments from the worker-as-witness throw up critical questions on practices of welfare and aid.
The comorbidities of falling investment, exports, and consumption will make recovery look like the Nike swoosh logo: a flat and protracted recovery. A series of measures, including a rebuilding of trust, are required for sustained economic growth.
The precarisation of labour is written into the very logic of platform business models. Ignoring this, and focusing only on social security measures to protect workers, normalises exploitative labour conditions as the 'future of work'.
Jammu and Kashmir’s new domicile law recognizes the rights of marginalized Hindu communities that had earlier been locked in social exclusion. But giving rights to one set of groups while simultaneously taking away the rights of Kashmiris is not justice.
Is This the Market Reform Indian Agriculture Needs?
The rules of the game in markets have changed dramatically. But there are problems with the fundamental premise of the approach, there are doubts about the future of state intervention & there are major lacunae in the bills, all making the outcome uncertain.
The devastating effects of the pandemic upon the working poor should be a recognition of the collapse of our moral centre as a nation and as a people. The elite have exiled the poor from their conscience and consciousness.
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Citizenship, Personhood and the Second Digital Turn
As autonomous ‘citizens’ capable of acting on the responsibilities that go with Constitutional rights have been technologically replaced by populations to be ‘managed’, what we see is the populist abstraction of the ‘people’ being used against actual people.
India's overambitious targets for solar energy could destabilize its power sector and threaten energy security. Rather than 'green' political posturing, the country must plan an energy transition based on its developmental interests.
The prestigious Char Dham Pariyojana to widen roads to Uttarakhand’s pilgrimage sites is being rapidly pushed forward without heed to the environmental and social consequences. Several laws have been bypassed in the process.
The Indian-American community’s mixed feelings about Kamala Harris’ candidacy for US vice president spotlight its problem of racism and social conservatism.
A photo-essay on the Sabars, an identified Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group, who survive—live is hardly the word—in the most extreme conditions in East Singhbhum district of Jharkhand.
A photo essay on the Brahma Kshatriyas of Hyderabad, whose association with the Mughal and the Nizam’s administration produced a unique syncretic culture.
Contradictory messages and silence on critical issues
The New Education Policy pays obeisance to school teachers but while the policy makes some interesting recommendations, there is no radical change in the offing that will improve the quality of teaching or the working conditions of the all-important teacher.
Labour force surveys that yield estimates on job numbers are designed to capture work inputs in 'normal' situations. The concepts and methodology used can lead to errors in estimates during a lockdown when production has been completely or partially halted.
Social enterprises have the potential to make a significant impact on India's society and economy, but they struggle to find sustained funding. Social stock exchanges can help bridge the funding gap and create an investment ecosystem for such enterprises.
The abysmally low participation of women in paid work in India even today is very worrying. Policy interventions should look at how to encourage higher work participation, through offers of higher wages and better social security.
"Tiffin" is a snack that keeps you going until the next meal. Tiffin also conveys the sense of an occasion where you engage in friendly conversation and discussion. In that spirit, “Tiffin”-- also linked to our acronym TIF -- is a new section that will offer articles covering topics other than “contemporary issues”.
