Articles by Rajeshwari Deshpande

In an education system which does little by way of developing a research atmosphere and mindset among students, where funds are rarely used to strengthen institutional infrastructure and subversion of procedural lapses are a norm, plagiarism and unethical research practices become a direct outcome of systemic failure. Thus, despite efforts by the University Grants Commission to introduce guidelines and regulations relating to academic performance of teachers in colleges and universities, the non-availability of academic resources and a hierarchical research structure have reduced the standards of research activity and further encouraged academic dishonesty.

A Disjointed Reading of Indian Political Parties Rajeshwari Deshpande Since the 1990s, there has been a renewed interest in the working of the Indian party system. A combination of factors like the regionalisation of politics and gradual dispersal of political competition; Mandalisation and unfolding of social contestations; multiple realignments of national and regional level political forces; the arrival of coalition politics; and the decline and partial revival of the Congress Party contributed to the renewal of studies of Indian political parties and party systems during the last two decades. The book under review is a part of this growing pool of studies. However, it presents a rather disjointed reading of the parties and of the functioning of Indian democracy. Broadly speaking, the changing nature of political parties and of politics in recent times has evoked two kinds of responses in the academic and journalistic circles. One kind of response is generally appreciative of the arrival of a competitive multiparty system in India and links it to gradual expansion of Indian democracy. The other sees these developments as an erosion of the rules of liberal democracy, and growing political instability leading to a deepening crisis of Indian democracy. In its discussion of the issues facing Indian political parties, Short on Democracy: Issues Facing Indian Political Parties tries to bring together both these perspectives, but in a clumsy manner. As the title of the book suggests, the editorial perspective of the book clearly sees the functioning of political parties as problematic and

A changing party system, fragmentation of social blocs, arrival of caste-based identity politics and material frustrations leading to the formation of several rebel groups within the various political parties - all these helped the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party combine record a default win in the Lok Sabha elections in Maharashtra. This was achieved despite a mixed opinion on the state government's track record. The alliance has its task cut out for the upcoming assembly elections in the state and no longer can traditional bases of support be counted upon, especially by the Congress Party.

This paper reports the findings of a study conducted in 2007 on the relationship between caste and occupation in Pune and investigates the patterns of intergenerational occupational mobility across four generations and different caste groups in the city. It finds that while caste is not strongly associated with occupational mobility in general, it is certainly important for upward mobility though the extent of mobility is different among different castes. The maratha-kunbis and dalits are the greatest beneficiaries of upward mobility though there is a difference in the mode of their journey. The Other Backward Classes lag behind these two and some castes among them even show stagnation as far as mobility is concerned.

The University Grants Commission's recent decision to exempt MPhil or PhD degree holders from the national eligibility test for the appointment of lecturers will be welcomed by potential teachers. This has already resulted in a rush of applications for MPhil courses. But what kind of alternative is this to the NET? What kind of research will it generate? Will it help students in any way?