Articles by V Kalyan Shankar

The COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns have affected informal labour markets in India at large. But how have they affected sex workers in particular? Going beyond the urban-centric reportage of exploited sex workers confined to brothels with no incomes and heavy debts, how were they affected and what were their coping strategies? In this paper, we draw upon the results of a multistate survey of female/male/ transgender sex workers to present a more realistic and nuanced narrative. In particular, we revisit and complicate some of the stereotypes concerning the immobility of sex workers within informal labour markets, their indebtedness, and bondage to informal creditors. At the same time, we draw attention to the much-needed support from the state in tiding over the pandemic-induced crises.

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Waste belongs to households and then to the municipality once it enters the public collection/disposal system. What does this mean for informal waste pickers? Despite their numbers and importance, they lack a “right to waste” and are vulnerable to processes of accumulation. This paper presents the counter-narrative of Solid Waste Collection and Handling, India’s first wholly self-owned cooperative of waste pickers, which has been contracted by the Pune Municipal Corporation for door-to-door waste collection. The initiative legitimises a “right to waste” for waste pickers by allowing them direct access to waste from households, and has reconceptualised waste and work for waste pickers, while altering their engagement with other stakeholders.

The annual Pratham surveys point to deficits of learning endemic to Indian schools. But what if these deficits are being carried forward and sustained in higher education? This paper shows that the results of a survey conducted among postgraduate students of economics in an Indian university were very Pratham-like. The objective was to assess their understanding of basic arithmetic operations and some primary economic principles/indicators. Is it the case, particularly in the social sciences, that we are receiving and, in turn, churning out generations of students who lack an understanding of basic principles? If so, what are the institutional mechanisms in place to sustain this long continuum of ignorance?

In matchmaking, the traditional conditionalities such as caste, sub-caste and horoscope compatibility continue with the same fervour. However, newer, equally stringent conditions are getting superimposed such as educational preferences and of living or working in the US. This paper shows how the educational and migratory aspirations of a young, mobile generation have given rise to newer behavioural patterns that pulsate in matrimonial alliances. By examining the profiles of Telugu brahmin brides and grooms, we explore the meanings of a new, coded vocabulary that has come into vogue to communicate partner preferences and the nuances therein. Through this we try to decipher the changes taking place in the matrimonial space of present-day India.