-The Hindu In 40% of blocks, SC/ST community constitutes less than 5% of residents Bengaluru: A first-of-its-kind snapshot of the distribution of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes community in the city reveals a patchwork of caste-segregated neighbourhoods where socio-economically backward castes are ghettoised. Older areas such as Malleswaram or Basavanagudi exhibit a caste-based pattern, perhaps due to urban planning where caste segregation was inculcated by design a century ago. Stark in newer areas However, this...

-The Indian Express “What Lodhi and Mughal dynasties or the Britishers did not do to us (tribals), the Indian government is doing today through force of law. Schedule V of the Constitution is in our favour, but not in a single state it has been implemented with full effect,” Jayant Munda said. Jharkhand-based social activist Jayant Munda, who is the son of tribal leader and Constituent Assembly member Jaipal Singh Munda,...

-Financial Express Farm loan waivers—of more than Rs 850 billion in FY18 and FY19, announced by various state governments—are the flavour of the season. This can affect credit offtake and induce further stress for banks and amount to another agrarian crisis. Farm sector NPAs accounted for 16% of banks’ advances under the priority sector lending in October 2018. Post the early waiver-announcements, credit growth in agriculture and allied activities has been...

Just a few days ahead of the Kisan Mukti March in Delhi NCR, the provisional results of the Agriculture Census 2015-16 became available in the public domain. The report, among other things, highlights the long-term problems affecting Indian agriculture including fragmentation of land holdings (particularly the marginal and small ones) and shrinking average size of farm land. The provisional results of the latest Agriculture Census reveal that at the national level...

-The Hindu Occupational identities are competing with caste and religious identities in Madhya Pradesh The political mood of the people in Madhya Pradesh is complex. To understand voting behaviour only through the prism of caste is an outdated method in this State. In fact, occupational identities resonate across caste and religion. Employing the categories of farmers, labourers, government employees, small businessmen, the urban service classes, and so on helps us understand voter...