Netflix series Class engages with the intersectionality of identities and the impact of socio-economic backgrounds on the experiences of LGBTQ+ individuals in contemporary India.
The differences in equality and equity need to be enhanced in contemporary gender policy framing in India. Gender parity or equality measures, such as quotas for women in legislative bodies, ineffectively, and sometimes adversely, seek to induce women’s empowerment, which is an equity concern. An analysis of the passive effects of women quotas at different legislative levels and the deep-rooted problems of agency that attenuate such policies is undertaken. It is found that reservations for women are important, however, its effect on gender parity is more profound at institutions that empower women at the grassroots level. Further, enabling women to participate in the electoral system at an individual level is more desirable than being token representatives in Indian politics.
The emergence of India as an economic powerhouse notwithstanding, growth has failed to trickle down to marginalised sections, rendering inclusive growth a major concern. That has made India one of the most unequal countries. In this context, the extent of inequality across states during the post-economic reforms period has been analysed in this paper. Income inequality is estimated by sourcing gross state domestic product data from the Reserve Bank of India’s Handbook of Statistics on the Indian Economy and using the Gini coefficient and Lorenz curve for 26 states and three union territories from 1993–94 to 2019–20. During this period, the western and southern zones have recorded a higher GSDP than the rest of the states in the country. The Gini coefficient was the lowest at 0.25 for Andhra Pradesh and the highest for Sikkim at 0.52. It is argued that the policy focus should not just be on a higher magnitude of growth, but on equitable growth, which requires region-specific interventions with a focus on several dimensions such as setting up agro-processing storage unit storage and transportation and generating accessible employment opportunities—supplemented by significant investments in education and health.
The emergence of India as an economic powerhouse notwithstanding, growth has failed to trickle down to marginalised sections, rendering inclusive growth a major concern. That has made India one of the most unequal countries. In this context, the extent of inequality across states during the post-economic reforms period has been analysed in this paper. Income inequality is estimated by sourcing gross state domestic product data from the Reserve Bank of India’s Handbook of Statistics on the Indian Economy and using the Gini coefficient and Lorenz curve for 26 states and three union territories from 1993–94 to 2019–20. During this period, the western and southern zones have recorded a higher GSDP than the rest of the states in the country. The Gini coefficient was the lowest at 0.25 for Andhra Pradesh and the highest for Sikkim at 0.52. It is argued that the policy focus should not just be on a higher magnitude of growth, but on equitable growth, which requires region-specific interventions with a focus on several dimensions such as setting up agro-processing storage unit storage and transportation and generating accessible employment opportunities—supplemented by significant investments in education and health.
The emergence of India as an economic powerhouse notwithstanding, growth has failed to trickle down to marginalised sections, rendering inclusive growth a major concern. That has made India one of the most unequal countries. In this context, the extent of inequality across states during the post-economic reforms period has been analysed in this paper. Income inequality is estimated by sourcing gross state domestic product data from the Reserve Bank of India’s Handbook of Statistics on the Indian Economy and using the Gini coefficient and Lorenz curve for 26 states and three union territories from 1993–94 to 2019–20. During this period, the western and southern zones have recorded a higher GSDP than the rest of the states in the country. The Gini coefficient was the lowest at 0.25 for Andhra Pradesh and the highest for Sikkim at 0.52. It is argued that the policy focus should not just be on a higher magnitude of growth, but on equitable growth, which requires region-specific interventions with a focus on several dimensions such as setting up agro-processing storage unit storage and transportation and generating accessible employment opportunities—supplemented by significant investments in education and health.
Can a poorer individual who has a particular talent realistically hope to move up in life because they have this particular talent? This proposition is put to the test by interviewing more than 800 young individuals in rural and urban Bihar and Delhi. Findings show that these individuals have had virtually no opportunity to be tested for any hidden talent, be it a talent for athletics, for singing, chess, art or mathematics. Not one of these young people has ever competed at the national, state, or district level. The poverty of their circumstances is made worse by this poverty of opportunity. Millions lose out on alternative careers. Future champions remain unidentified and unrewarded. Something better is necessary to make equality of opportunity less of a slogan and more of a reality.
Can a poorer individual who has a particular talent realistically hope to move up in life because they have this particular talent? This proposition is put to the test by interviewing more than 800 young individuals in rural and urban Bihar and Delhi. Findings show that these individuals have had virtually no opportunity to be tested for any hidden talent, be it a talent for athletics, for singing, chess, art or mathematics. Not one of these young people has ever competed at the national, state, or district level. The poverty of their circumstances is made worse by this poverty of opportunity. Millions lose out on alternative careers. Future champions remain unidentified and unrewarded. Something better is necessary to make equality of opportunity less of a slogan and more of a reality.
Evidence from Ghana and reports from Sri Lanka indicate that the International Monetary Fund has introduced a new condition—reduction through the restructuring of domestic sovereign debt—into its adjustment toolkit for countries facing external debt stress. This tendency to blur the distinction between domestic and external debt has major implications, and amounts to imposing measures that enforce a new and additional form of debilitating austerity on these countries.
Evidence from Ghana and reports from Sri Lanka indicate that the International Monetary Fund has introduced a new condition—reduction through the restructuring of domestic sovereign debt—into its adjustment toolkit for countries facing external debt stress. This tendency to blur the distinction between domestic and external debt has major implications, and amounts to imposing measures that enforce a new and additional form of debilitating austerity on these countries.
In order to break away from the neo-liberal debt servitude, Pakistan needs a strong political will to make structural changes to its political economy. Policies centred on working people and their needs should be privileged over the International Monetary Fund’s one-size-fits-all (non)-solution that it continues to advocate in developing countries.
For the last two decades, there have been attempts to allow the branch campuses of foreign universities through legislative measures. However, in the recent Draft UGC Regulations, 2023, effort is made to allow such universities to operate and confer degree, bypassing even the legislative route. The article contends the point that the draft regulation is anti-constitutional and stands on weak legal grounds. It will distort the public higher education institutions and by creating further exclusion, it fails to serve the national interests. The policymakers need to deliberate further on the implications of such a policy on the already unequal landscape of education.
In the 2022 assembly elections in Punjab, where the Aam Aadmi Party registered a massive and historic win, most analyses tended to underestimate the caste factor. The ascendance of Charanjit Singh Channi as the chief ministerial face of the Congress simply failed to impress upon the people. The background of the failure of the Channi experiment by way of examining the multilayered reality of Dalit identity in Punjab is explored in this article.
Personal and admittedly subjective observations and reflections on the multidimensional crisis in Cuba are presented, drawing especially on the author’s three weeks’ visit. The focus is on the worst crisis Cuba has ever faced in terms of not only its economic and social impact, but especially on its social-psychological effect on Cuban people.
Rajasthan’s pioneering Right to Health Act emerged through contestation and negotiation with private medical associations. Certain provisions require further clarity and incorporation of civil society suggestions; this forward-looking legislation must be operationalised keeping in view the wider political economy of healthcare.
