Assam

The construction of India’s welfare image has undergone significant changes in the neo-liberal context, and the livelihood dialogue has reoriented itself in this new politico-economic perspective. The authors have felt the need to look into the issue of women’s livelihood (in)security in an emerging neo-liberal scenario with reference to a significant livelihood programme named Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihood Mission. The aim of the paper is to understand objectively the potential and role of DAY-NRLM in ensuring women’s livelihood security in the neo-liberal context. The empirical study is conducted in Biswanath district of Assam with the help of focus group interview and semi-structured interview schedule.

The social historiography of the Tezpur Lunatic Asylum can bring interesting new dimensions and debates to critically enquire the history of psychiatry and medicine under colonialism. From the colonial medical records, the article refers to the notion of “madness” and its variants. It emphasises on the social history of the TLA, which occupies a space between knowledge and power under colonial domination. It also critiques the power relations, while categorising the “insane” and bureaucratic involvement during such report writing processes.

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Informality and diversity of institutional forms have been marked as distinct features of India’s postcolonial capitalist development. The present paper considers the conditions of reproduction of informal enterprises, specifically focusing on the living and working conditions of artisan labour in the silk-weaving cluster of Sualkuchi in Assam. The study indicates that kinship, gender, and caste act as regulative forces, influencing the form and scale of production, ownership, contract, and exchange relations. The results point to the significance of non-capitalist institutional arrangement in the reproduction of the handloom sector under contemporary capitalism.

Hyper-populism riding on welfare schemes along with a polarised campaign on religious lines paved the way for the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance’s return to power in Assam. As the new government resumes office, it remains to be seen if it will continue its emphasis on polarising issues such as reverification of National Register of Citizens and ban or focus on larger issues like the Covid-19 pandemic, flood and erosion that continue to hamper the state’s development.