-Frontline A report by ActionAid and the Tata Institute of Social Sciences highlights the vulnerability and tragic living conditions of thousands of children who take shelter in Mumbai's streets. IN 1988, the acclaimed film-maker Mira Nair made Salaam Bombay!, a poignantly revealing film on street children in Mumbai. The plot revolves around the protagonist, Krishna or "Chaipau", who is kicked out of his home by his mother for having damaged his...
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A law for human dignity-Harsh Mander
-The Hindu More needs to be done to enforce the law banning manual scavenging. This monsoon, India's Parliament passed a law of enormous social significance prohibiting and punishing manual scavenging, which remains the most degrading form of untouchability and caste discrimination in the country. This is not the first time this practice was outlawed: untouchability and forced labour were forbidden in the Constitution itself and, in 1993, a law was first passed...
More »No exits from these tunnels of death-Agrima Bhasin
-The Hindu Deep-rooted caste biases and the brazen disregard by civic authorities of court judgments are the main reason for the frequent deaths of sewerage workers across the country Earlier this month, a group of men set forth to unblock a drain sewer in the basement of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) in Delhi. Two of the men, Ashok and Chhotu, entered the sewer but did not return....
More »How Delhiites gave up their right to safe tap water -Shivani Singh
-The Hindustan Times Not very long ago, most Delhi residents drank water directly from the tap. The government utility supplied water twice a day. Some was stored in kitchen containers for drinking and cooking. The rest went to the overhead tanks to be used for bathing and washing. It was not that the municipal supply was very reliable. There were days in the summer when one had to go without water....
More »Post-Kumbh Mela, the Sangam presents an unholy sight -Omar Rashid
-The Hindu Allahabad: Almost two months have passed since the largest human gathering, the Maha Kumbh Mela, concluded here, registering a mammoth 100 million devotees over 55 days. Huge banners and hoardings welcomed visitors to an eco-friendly, ‘Green Kumbh,' spread this time over an extensive 4,000 acres. While the Uttar Pradesh government receives accolades for its management of the mega event - most recently through a presentation invite by Harvard University...
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