-TheCitizen.in Eight years on GANGNAULI: On the banks of the Krishna river, in the Baghpat district of Uttar Pradesh, toxic chemicals discharged by nearby industrial units have turned the drinking water of villages around the river poisonous. This toxic river might be the reason for life threatening diseases like cancer, hepatitis, paralysis, mental illness and congenital bone deformities prevalent among people here. Back in 2014, former Haryana Pollution Control Board scientist Dr Chandraveer...

-The Hindu To say that growth and inequality converge in terms of their effects on socio-economic outcomes is outrageous The Economic Survey 2021 (https://bit.ly/2OfqfVQ) does not seem to be a policy document derived straight from the empirical data of the economy or the social compulsions embedded in it. On the contrary, the Survey rings with policy postulates based on strong ideological overtones. Of interest would be Chapter 4, captioned ‘Inequality and Growth:...

-CaravanMagazine.in In December 2019, M Venkaiah Naidu, the vice president, on behalf of the union ministry of social justice and empowerment, presented the Uttar Pradesh government the National Award of Excellence for doing a “commendable” job in the field of rehabilitation of persons with disabilities. The state received a total of three awards for doing “excellent” work for people with disabilities. In contrast, the response to a right to information application...

A recent survey conducted by National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP) -- a Delhi-based non-profit organisation -- shows how persons with disabilities in the country were disproportionately affected by the COVID–19 crisis. The report by NCPEDP has observed that persons with disabilities, particularly those from economically deprived sections, went through severe hardship during the lockdown. Without sufficient access to food or money, many of them faced hunger...

-The Indian Express At a privately-run centre in South West Delhi, where residents include destitute women and victims of trafficking aged above 18 years, “a resident reported a shocking incident of sexual abuse where she was made to remove her salwar and chilli powder was inserted in her vagina. New Delhi: In a report to the Delhi government, a Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) audit of shelter homes for women...