-Scroll.in India runs massive policy programs based on caste. Yet refuses to collect data on them. This paradox means the government is working blind. On July 20, the Modi government told Parliament that it had decided to not conduct a Caste Census. The only caste-wise data the next census would collate would be on Dalits and Adivasis, the same as every census in independent India’s history. India’s largest caste bloc – the...
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Tackling the Hindutva bugbear -Shaikh Mujibur Rehman
-The Hindu Dalit-Muslim alliances are not enough; upper caste Hindus are needed too, to restore secularism Ever since the Sachar Committee Report of 2006 demonstrated that the socio-economic conditions of Muslims have worsened compared to Dalits, some have argued that Muslims have become India’s new Dalits. It is further proposed that the two communities should forge an alliance to fight the Hindu Right to restore secularism because together they constitute a significant...
More »Lessons in direct income support from Odisha -Varad Pande and Shilpa Kumar
-The Indian Express Governments can learn much on how to construct a social welfare system for farmers from Odisha's KALIA scheme for DIS. The recent farmer agitation has brought the issue of farmer distress front and centre in the public consciousness. The time seems ripe to find new solutions to the structural challenges facing farmers. One promising step is the shift from non-targeted agriculture subsidies towards direct income support (DIS). A key...
More »The importance of Caste Census and its political implications -Chetan Chauhan
-Hindustan Times There have been growing demands for a Caste Census with the general census in 2022 since Justice G Rohini-led commission submitted a draft proposal recommending a sub-categorisation of the reservation for the OBC There have been growing demands for a Caste Census with the general census in 2022 since Justice G Rohini-led commission submitted a draft proposal recommending a sub-categorisation of the reservation for the Other Backward Classes (OBC). The...
More »Don’t ignore the women farmers -Thamizhachi Thangapandian
-The Hindu The gender gap in the agriculture sector will only widen more with the current farm laws Eminent agriculture scientist M.S. Swaminathan once said, “Some historians believe that it was women who first domesticated crop plants and thereby initiated the art and science of farming. While men went out hunting in search of food, women started gathering seeds from the native flora and began cultivating those of interest from the point...
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