-The Indian Express A collective of NREGA women activists discovers its political voice. As Jean Dreze recently observed, one of the key ideas behind NREGA was that it would serve as a platform for increasing the overall political capacities of workers. It was hoped that people would organise themselves to collectively demand work and, in the process, learn about other legal and constitutional provisions. While learning about the latter has been patchy,...

-Scroll.in Each case of rape seems to bring out a different kind of cruelty that lies latent within us. The Hathras gangrape has reminded us yet again of the cruelty that lies latent within us. It tells us how a woman’s body is used as a battlefield, used to punish her, her family and her community, or used for revenge. Cruelty, like grief, can never be quantified, but each case of rape, indeed...

-IndiaToday.in * 30 Dalit women call out caste-based discrimination at Silicon Valley companies. * A new report says caste biases are common among Indian Engineers working in tech companies. * Many Dalit engineers say they face discrimination from fellow Indian engineers.   A few weeks ago it came to light that caste-based discrimination was fairly common in the Silicon Valley companies, so common and so pervasive that it led to the California Department of...

-Down to Earth Renuka Singh Saruta had attributed a study to IIT-Delhi on COVID-19 in tribal areas; but the institution does not have it It could be a major flip-flop, that too by a central minister in Parliament. Minister of State for Tribal Affairs, Renuka Singh Saruta in an answer to the Rajya Sabha, attributed data to a study that might not exist. Saruta told the Rajya Sabha September 17, 2020, that less...

-The Hindu The Chief Minister says he has delivered good governance and prosperity, but data show otherwise As Bihar goes to the polls, it is important to scrutinise Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s repeated claims about delivering ‘sushasan’ (good governance) and ‘taraqqi’ (prosperity). Does the reality justify these claims? Or are these boasts similar to the ‘Gujarat Model’, merely effective as propaganda? Poor on many indicators Bihar’s economy has performed poorly under the Janata Dal...