Critical Note: The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Bill, 2013

Shruti Jha ‘Public Health and Sanitation’ is an item under the State List. However, since the act of manual scavenging is dehumanizing, arising out of caste norms, in order to protect Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, and prevent hazardous employment, the Parliament has jurisdiction to legislate this act through Entry 23 (employment and unemployment) and…

ARTICLE 15: Incomplete Journey from Constitution to Constituency

Riah Rath Article 15 is a 2019 Hindi film, directed by Anubhav Sinha. It is a movie set in the fictional village of Lalgaon in Uttar Pradesh, based on the Badaun rapes in UP. The film features Ayushmann Khurrana as an upper-caste IPS officer who has recently been posted to Lalgaon. It intricately knits together…

Caste-away: Caste-based Residential Segregation and the Case of Bengaluru

BALA PANCHANATHAN Caste is an unwritten compendium of rigid social structures that includes a network of hierarchies, segmentation and segregation (Ghurye 1969 in Bharathi et al 2019). It is beyond a social evil in India— it is a state of mind and a way of life. Spatial segregation and discrimination have been basic aspects of…

Domestic Violence during the Pandemic: Role of Technology

Divyanshi Shrivastava writes about the role of technology in helping victims of domestic abuse escape the frightening confines of their house and seek help. With past efforts having failed as is, and greater isolation through imposition of lockdowns, nations must situate women and girls at the centre of their COVID-19 response strategy.

Vaccine Infrastructure is as Important as the Vaccine

With the world over eagerly awaiting a breakthrough in the development of a COVID-19 vaccine, Astitav points to how the emphasis accorded to this is misplaced, especially for a country like India. Getting a vaccine is only the first step, and the steps following it require critical attention of policy makers.