The ends may justify the means, but let's be clear - in rural India, extremes of coercion are being used to encourage toilet use Robert Chambers recently wrote that community-led total sanitation is leading to a development revolution, especially in south Asia. I agree with his assessment of sanitation's importance. In practice, however, the success of community-led efforts often hinges on the use of outright coercion. In my experience, the measures...
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Dalits vent caste ire in Haryana
-The Telegraph Hundreds of Dalits embittered by a caste clash with Jats last year today vented their anger by throwing stones at police in a restricted zone, leading to a baton-charge and several arrests. The Dalits assembled this morning outside the Hisar district collector’s office to protest against cases of atrocities by Jats. They were angry because six upper-caste Jats, among the key accused in a case of caste violence last year,...
More »Disability must be seen as a development issue, says report by Claire Provost
The first global report on disability reveals how the exclusion of 1 billion people – invisible in official statistics and absent from aid budgets – is holding back development progress The UN millennium development goals (MDGs) may not be met by 2015 unless urgent action is taken to address the needs of people with disabilities, according to the first world report on disability. More than 1 billion people live with a disability,...
More »Young children should avoid using cell phones by R Prasad
Cells of children rapidly divide and hence are more sensitive to any radiation. The brain area exposed to radiation is also large If the World Health Organisation has classified mobile phones as “possibly carcinogenic” on May 31, the Council of Europe's parliamentary assembly took a proactive step by adopting a resolution on May 27. The Council has recommended restrictions on the use of mobile phones and wireless Internet access in all schools...
More »Midday meals cooked by dalits go waste by Akshaya Mukul
A dalit chief minister in Mayawati has not changed the deep-seated caste bias in schools of Uttar Pradesh. In 40% schools of Shahjehanpur, Badaun and Pilibhit districts, teachers do not taste the mid-day meal food and students refuse to eat it since the cooks belong to lower caste. The rot in MDM in these three districts is not confined to caste bias alone. It has also been found that in schools...
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