Rajniben, a village panchayat member from Ahmedabad district, does not have a chair to sit in the panchayat office. Unlike the other members, who all have a chair, there is a gunny sack reserved for Rajniben which she uses to sit on the floor when the panchayat meets. This is because Rajniben is a dalit and is not allowed to sit on par with panchayat members belonging to upper castes....
More »SEARCH RESULT
Total Matching Records found : 190
Gender Bender by Arfa Khanum Sherwani
As soon as the Rajya Sabha passed the women’s reservation bill, ensuring 33 per cent reservations for women in Parliament and state legislative assemblies, the issue of backward and Muslim women jigged to the centre of the debate. Earlier, whenever Muslim women managed to come into the limelight, it was all grabbed by the Imranas and the Gudias, not to forget the Shahbanos — supposed to be living in the...
More »Identity enumeration and statistical systems by Sukhadeo Thorat
The system of statistical data collection in India needs reform in order to meet actual requirements. * There is a concern that caste-tribe-religion wise data may cause them to be used for political ends * Another concern is that they may consolidate rather than reduce consciousness around identity in terms of caste and religion * These fears are not borne out by experience; if anything, the experience is to the contrary The use...
More »Will counting caste help to reduce inequality? by Nandini Sundar
More thought needs to be given to the kind of data generated and its practical implications. Yesterday when the census enumerator visited, I asked him how he felt about the current debate on counting caste in the census: “Not comfortable at all”, he said, “I don't even like asking whether someone is SC/ST or Other, leave alone what their caste is.” But, he added, “caste is an inescapable reality of...
More »Turnaround of India State Could Serve as a Model by Lydia Polgreen
For decades the sprawling state of Bihar, flat and scorching as a griddle, was something between a punch line and a cautionary tale, the exact opposite of the high-tech, rapidly growing, rising global power India has sought to become. Criminals could count on the police for protection, not prosecution. Highwaymen ruled the shredded roads and kidnapping was one of the state’s most profitable businesses. Violence raged between Muslims and Hindus, between...
More »
