June 5, 2020
June 5, 2020
Issue Articles
The Gig Economy in the Pandemic
Outsourcing Risk, Privatising Gain?
Several firms in the gig economy have expanded operations during the Covid-19 pandemic. This has been made possible by the ready availability of an at-risk labour force. Fashioned as ‘aggregators’, gig platforms shirk responsibility for worker safety & welfare
Margins and Marginality
The Pathalgadi Movement and Jharkhand Elections 2019
The Pathalgadi movement of Jharkhand drew on Munda traditions to fashion the 2019 electoral defeat of the incumbent party. A unique interplay of an assertion of constitutional rights, local sovereignty and social practices made this a special moment.
States’ Loss of Fiscal Autonomy in a Centralised Federal System
The states bear the larger responsibility in dealing with Covid-19 but they have few resources to do so. The ongoing process of centralisation has weakened the states. We need an institutional mechanism to oversee bargaining between the centre and the states.
Counts and Consequences
Citizenship and Language Identity
Language diversity has always been a given for Indians. The Constitution endorses this diversity as ‘a noble intention’. But as in 2011, the 2021 Census too may see hundreds of languages removed from official records in the service of Hindi-Hindu nationalism.
Hunger Grows as India’s Lockdown Kills Jobs
Results of a Survey from 12 States
The lockdown has devastated livelihoods at unprecedented levels, causing widespread job losses and hunger. The measures so far will not solve the crisis. India should universalise the PDS, expand cash transfers, and create a national job guarantee scheme.
How many casual workers in the cities have sought to go home?
There has been no count of the number of workers returning to their home states. An analysis of NSS data tells us that the first wave of returnees is likely to be mainly urban casual workers who lost their livelihoods and lived in insecure accommodation.
Learning to Listen
Building an Empathetic State
The Indian state’s lack of empathy for the weakest could be seen so clearly in the hardships it imposed on the poor during the Covid-19 lockdown. This can be fixed only by listening to people's voices and paying heed to what they say.
Psychosocial Challenges In the Midst of the Coronavirus
While trying to maintain our psychological equilibrium during a pandemic, we may well do so in a manner that facilitates the emergence of authoritarianism. But there can be hope too if we allow ourselves to be touched by an awareness of our vulnerabilities.
Beyond the Pandemic
Strategies for Reforming Governance
‘We need to address the basic structural issues of governance design if we are to be better prepared for future complex challenges. This is particularly necessary in managing disasters, but the broader process of policymaking too needs reform.’
Seven Lessons for the Future
For the World After Covid-19
The pandemic has already taught us that for a better world we cannot have the market as the backbone of the economy; we need a more inclusive politics; decentralised governance is essential; and we obviously need a more harmonious relationship with nature.
Sweden’s ‘No Lockdown’ Strategy
A Senior Citizen’s Personal Experience
In dealing with Covid-19 Sweden has been unique for not shutting down the economy & enforcing a stay-at-home policy. This is a 'learning by doing' approach that has the broad support of all political parties & is in line with an old social democrat tradition.
Debt and Welfare In A World of Pandemics
Drastic times call for radical measures. Falling tax revenues call for an increase in borrowings by the central government to help states. A failure to do so now could have a negative impact on the revival of economic growth in the future.
Why Online Learning Cannot Be A Transformative Force in India
One needs to be less than enthusiastic about a shift to online teaching in universities in India, for it is on the physical campus that young adults can now transcend their social backgrounds, participate in collective discussions & develop critical minds.
Migrants Workers, the Lockdown and the Judiciary
The millions of migrants who have lost their livelihoods have a fundamental right to a life of dignity. The refusal of the Government of India to provide comprehensive support and the Supreme Court’s ruling on a petition seeking relief have left them adrift.
Manufacturing Epidemics
Pathogens, Poverty, and Public Health Crises in India
India's Covid-19 crisis is one effect of a decades-long process that has produced impoverishment, hunger, and ill-health, all at once. Its history of epidemics can offer insights into understanding the structural roots of its poor public health infrastructure.
Making Markets Work for Farmers During and After the Lockdown
The lockdown disrupted agricultural markets just when the rabi crop was harvested. To support farmers the states & the centre need to devise policies to expand procurement to cover more crops & small farmers. Support is needed for rabi & the kharif seasons.
Forum/Letters
Letters on June 5 Issue
“Invention of Tradition”
Mukulika Banerjee and Manisha Priyam’s discourse on “Margins and Marginality” (June 5, 2020) has offered us a nuanced reading of...
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