By Venkatesh Nayak*  Readers may recall reading my despatch from earlier this month about the data discrepancy in the implementation of the scheme of ex gratia payment of INR 500 (i.e., US$ 20 where every US$ 1 = INR 74.69 as on 26th March, 2020) per month to more than 20 crore (200 million) women under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) COVID-19 relief package. On 28th August, 2021, the Union Finance Ministry had claimed that a sum of INR 30,945 crores (or INR 309.45 Billion = US$ 4.143 Billion) had been deposited in the no-frills Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) bank accounts of women belonging to weaker sections and low income groups of society as part of this ex gratia payment scheme over a three-month period in April, May and June, 2020. I had pointed to the numerous discrepancies in the implementation statistics voluntarily disclosed by the Union Finance Ministry on the one hand and on the other, the district-wise data which the Union Ministry of Rural ...

By Rajiv Shah  A non-profit group consisting of engineers, social workers, and social scientists – calling themselves “liberation technology” enthusiasts – has regretted for the Central government is taking 26 days on an average to complete wage transfers to Andhra Pradesh workers employed under the rural jobs scheme of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA).

By Arjun Kumar*  Employment is the source of growth of a nation. The drastic recession of India during the Covid-19 phase has taken the employment to nadir. Employment is the need of the hour as the unemployed workforce leads to downfall in productivity. Rising population should ensure rising demand and, thus, increase in supply and employment.

By Simi Mehta* A book discussion on “In Defense of the Ordinary” by Dr. Dev Nath Pathak was organised on the 16th of August by Center of Human Dignity and Development (CHDD) at the Impact and Policy Research Institute , New Delhi. The distinguished panelist included the Author and Speaker – Dr. Dev Nath Pathak, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, South Asian University, New Delhi. The discussants were Prof Nivedita Menon, Professor at Centre for Comparative Politics and Political Theory, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, Prof Ashok Acharya, Professor in the Department of Political Science, University of Delhi and Prof Santosh K Singh, Chandigarh-based Academic and Commentator; Formerly Founder Faculty with the Ambedkar University. Building a case for the defence of the ordinary Dr. Dev Nath Pathak in his opening remarks stated the book is a result of the personal challenges that he experienced in the last 10 years of his academic practices – in resonance with public issues....

Soheil Arabi The Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain (CEMB), in a suprise move, has decided to observe September 30 as the Blasphemy Day. In an email alert, Maryam Namazie, CEMB spokesperson, has asked anyone interested to join CEMB in celebrating blasphemy by " uploading your photo into our #blasphemyday frame and sharing on social media." "If you can’t show your face because it may put you at risk, hide it or leave it blank", Namazie offers an option, adding, "On this day, we reiterate that blasphemy is not a crime. It is part and parcel of freedom of conscience and expression and that ideas don’t need rights, people do." Then, Namazie says, on November 20, there will be Blasphemous Women Film and Panel Discussion. She say, "On Saturday November 20 from 6-8 pm, CEMB is screening 'Women Leaving Islam' for the first time in London. After the film, there will be a panel discussion on Blasphemous Women and Equality. Speakers include Somali Ex-Mu...

By Prem Singh*  I do not generally opine on the internal affairs of any political party. Hence, I have no comments on the machinations of leadership change in Punjab and the strength or potential of the new leadership. I will only say that Captain Amarinder Singh, a veteran leader of about 80 years, was punished by the Congress high command for not visiting Delhi time and again, and for treating two national Congress leaders - Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra – as ‘children' and 'misguided'.

By Our Representative Even as the Assam government has named the Popular Front of India (PFI) for being “involved” in the recent violence during an eviction drive in the State’s Darrang district, with Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma terming the group “extremist”, PFI has staged a protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi against “police atrocities in Assam on helpless protesting people during the inhuman eviction drive.”

By Martin Macwan*  It was sometimes may be 10 years ago or more that I received a mail from Kamala Bhasin, asking me if I could be a guest speaker for a day to a workshop organized by her organization Sangat for women from different walks of life from south Asian countries to speak on the subject of Caste. It was my first personal meeting with her though I knew her from reading her book, “Sparshbhed” along with some of her poems including ‘Ulti sulti mitto’. At Dalit Shakti Kendra and Navsarjan, we used Kamala’s books as more than a training material. There have been other occasions later when I have been treated like a family member at more Sangat workshops. Kamala did join the Dalit Foundation Board for a brief period and I met her occasionally as member of the Jagori. But to know her, one had to meet her outside the narrow walls of the organizations. Her identity has been predominantly that of a feminist. Little has been known that she brought in the realities of caste within th...

 Kamala Bhasin, Martin Macwan By Martin Macwan* It was sometimes may be 10 years ago or more that I received a mail from Kamala Bhasin, asking me if I could be a guest speaker for a day to a workshop organized by her organization Sangat for women from different walks of life from south Asian countries to speak on the subject of caste.

Sudha Bharadwaj By Maaysha Singh, Kaladas Dehariya, Vimal Bhai*  Friends and family of Sudha Bharadwaj are extremely worried over the alarming and disturbing news of the rising Covid-19 infection in Byculla women’s jail in Mumbai, forcing the authorities to seal the premise.

By CK Raju* Astrology is a superstition, but why are the colonised unwilling to admit that Johannes Kepler was a superstitious astrologer, who got his livelihood from astrology, and wrote in praise of astrology. And what of Isaac Newton who superstitiously believed in Biblical creationism and apocalypse? His superstitions rubbed off into science and math as in the “eternal laws of nature”, not to mention his superstitions about the Indian calculus, all of which church superstition we happily teach in schools today.

By Jonathan Latham*   The contention of the book is that the key organising principle of Western thought is the seemingly innocuous and seemingly simple idea that our personal qualities are biologically inherited. That is, our character derives from our ancestors rather than being an always-adapting product of our own experiences, decisions, and education. The book makes the case, first, that genetic determinism is a scientific fallacy. Organisms are self-organised systems and therefore are not genetically determined. Second, the explanation for the myth, which predates Mesopotamian cities of 6,000 years ago, is its utility. Genetic determinism rationalises political systems based on genetic privilege. The result of the emergence of genetic determinism was the dismantling of ancient cultures based on inclusiveness, cohesion, and egalitarianism and their transformation into rigid structures of authoritarian domination based on separation and division: into families, classes, races, ...

By Nishant Saxena, Manisha Sharma, Fawzia Tarannum, Mansee Bal Bhargava* In India, nearly 60% of rural households have drinking water facilities within their premises whereas, the figure touches 80% in the urban areas , according to the National Sample Survey . Such urban-rural disparity is evident globally also and thus calls for addressing access to water from equitable and sustainable perspectives. Sustainable water management refers to a way of using water ensuring the current social, ecological, and economic needs are met without compromising the capabilities to meet those needs in the future. It requires stakeholders (in the government, residential, businesses, industries, agriculture, energy, infrastructure, etc.) including the water practitioners to look beyond the administrative, jurisdictional, and bureaucratic boundaries besides the immediate supply operations, managing water collaboratively while seeking resilient regional solutions that minimizes risks. It is urgent that ...

By AC Michael*  The onslaught on citizens of minority faith continues in Madhya Pradesh. Individuals claiming to be members of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) say they are preparing to demolish churches in the Jhabua district.

By Our Representative  Mourning the death of Laha Gopalan, leader of the Chengara land struggle, Kerala, India’s civil society network, National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) has said, he will remembered for leading a struggle which exposed the myth of complete land reforms in the State. Gopalan was 72. Ailing for quite some time, he tested positive for Covid-19 and was admitted to a hospital in Pathanamthitta on September 21.

Counterview Desk  India’s top civil society network, National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM), lending its full-blown support to the Bharat Banch call for September 27, 2021, given by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), has regretted that even a year after the farmer's protests, “the anti-farmer, anti-labour, anti-people Modi government” has accepted not even one of their demands.

As Modi addressed UN, human rights groups decried “monstrosity” of persecution of Muslims, Christians, Dalits, and other minorities in India. Demonstrators gathered outside UN to protest fascism, hate campaigns, weaponized rape, apartheid, lynchings, unlawful arrests, attacks on the media, and other abuses in India: A report distributed by the diaspora group Hindus for Human Rights: *** While observers said it was “shameful” that President Biden failed to publicly address widespread persecution of religious minorities in India when he met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 24, more than 100 members of interfaith and human rights groups spoke out as Modi addressed the United Nations General Assembly. Speakers condemned the egregious human rights violations and murders of religious minorities in India under a government that openly supports Hindu supremacy. The rally was sponsored by 21 organizations, including Ambedkar International Center, Ambedkar King S...

By Fr Cedric Prakash SJ*  On September 23, 2021, two civilians were killed and several others including nine policemen were injured in violence during an eviction drive in Assam’s Darrang district. The so-called ‘eviction drive’ by the State Government is another blatant effort to ‘weed’ out ‘foreigners’ (read ‘Muslims’) from the State.

By Our Representative  The four new labour codes promulgated by the Government of India came in for sharp criticism from several labour unions and civil rights groups at one-day discussion meeting organised in Ranchi (Jharkhand) on the issue of ‘changes in labour laws. Participants in the meeting asserted that under these new codes, many of the benefits and safeties accorded to labourers have been "taken away", while the right of labourers to create trade unions has been attacked.

In a sharp critique of the  UN Food Systems Summit, a statement released by the People's Coalition on Food Sovereignty, a global network of NGOs, has accused UN meet of being steered by big corporations, even as the Global South was pushed back. *** The Global People’s Summit (GPS) on Food Systems slammed the recently concluded UN Food Systems Summit (UN FSS) for paving the way for greater control of big corporations over global food systems and misleading the people through corporate-led false solutions to hunger and climate change. “It was just as we expected. While branding itself as the ‘People’s Summit’ and even the ‘Solutions Summit,’ the UN FSS did not listen to the voices of marginalized rural peoples, nor forward real solutions to the food, biodiversity and climate crises. Instead, it let powerful nations and big corporations play an even bigger role in determining food and agricultural policies. The UN has finally made it clear what ‘multilateralism’ is all about—pay...

Counterview Desk  While the public hearing on mining in Mali hills has been cancelled due to protests by Adivasi and Dalit farmers of the Mali Parbat Surakhya Samiti, Odisha, who have been protesting against the proposed bauxite mining project, India’s top civil rights network, National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) has said it is “deeply concerned” at the decision of the Government of Odisha to push the project in a Schedule-V Adivasi-belt Koraput district against the interests of the people and environment.

By Rajiv Shah  Former Gujarat topcop RB Sreekumar, an IPS officer of the 1971 batch, has alleged that the Gujarat government gave “totally false information” on the floor of the State Assembly regarding the appeal he made to the Gujarat governor for the “initiation of departmental action against those responsible for culpable negligence in maintenance of public order and investigation of genocidal crimes” during the 2002 riots.