A recent survey carried out by the TNUEF brings to light details of the discrimination Dalits in Madurai have faced for generations. OVER seven decades have rolled by since the freedom fighter A. Vaidhyanatha Iyer successfully led Dalits into the Meenakshi temple in Madurai, overcoming all the impediments posed by the casteist forces that were hell-bent on thwarting the historic event. But the stark reality is that “hidden apartheid” against...

Government science institutions across India may be able to earn labels that certify them as gender-friendly places under new proposals from a national task force on women in science. The 14-member government task force has also called for an end to some unwritten rules widely practised during recruitment to scientific institutions, including one that denies a spouse appointment in the same institution. The recommendations from the task force, which was...

Democracy is, everywhere, a work in progress. Like many other countries, India has imposed electoral quotas to improve the political empowerment of women and racial-ethnic minorities – that is, it has a political system that requires women to be elected to certain leadership positions. These rules represent a form of affirmative action, but they also resemble a feature of our own Constitution that reserves space in the Senate for two representatives...

The police to become more accessible to vulnerable sections of society  4,000 domestic violence cases reported in 2008 PSC to start recruitment process soon Thiruvananthapuram: Police stations in Kerala could soon have women as Station House Officers (SHOs). The State government has sanctioned direct recruitment of women to the post of Sub Inspector of Police in the General Executive Wing of the Police Department. The Kerala Public Services Commission (PSC) is expected...

KEY TRENDS    • According to The State of the World's Children 2019 report, the proportion of children under 5 years who are either stunted, wasted or overweight was 54 percent for India in 2015, 49 percent for Afganistan, 46 percent for Bangladesh in 2014, 43 percent for Nepal in 2016, 43 percent for Pakistan in 2018, 40 percent for Bhutan in 2010, 32 percent for Maldives in 2009, 28 percent for Sri Lanka and 50...