|
Managing
the Mass Media |
| Aug
31st 2010, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
| Some
recent Indian experiences have led to the formation
of a consensus that the mass media have become sensationalist
and scandal-obsessed, often irresponsible and generally
insensitive. The problem is getting so much worse that
there is a need to think of new and creative ways to
make sure that our media is actually accountable to
the general public, including those without any political
voice to speak of. |
|
Multidimensional
Poverty in India |
| Aug
30th 2010, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
| It
is increasingly being realised that poverty is much
more than a lack of adequate income, and therefore there
have been efforts to develop broader concepts of poverty
that recognise its multidimensional nature and allow
for interventions that address different dimensions
of poverty. |
|
The
Sacred Cow |
| Aug
23rd 2010, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
| The
bourgeoisie argument that development of infrastructure
is in the interest of society and investment for it
must be encouraged at all costs ignores the fact that
infrastructure has a class character as well. Essentially,
we must distinguish between ''infrastructure'' that
is in the interests of the people at large and ''infrastructure''
that uses social resources for the benefit of the few.
|
|
| Engineered
Inflation |
| Aug
2nd 2010, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
| With
prices of essentials already on the rise, the move to
hike petroleum product prices threatens to make inflation
the country’s principal economic problem. This will
have serious future implications with an aggravation
of inflationary trends that currently burden the common
person, and the success of the July 5 bandh
was a reflection of a strong public expression of anger
and opposition to the move. But why the government is
adopting such policies that transfer most of the burden
onto the aam aadmi and aggravate inflation
need to be assessed. |
|
| The
Choice before the Maoists |
| Jul
9th 2010, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
| The
course of development of the Maoist movement indicates
that conceptually they are privileging identity politics
over class politics. While class politics can have room
for reckoning with identity, there is no route from
identity politics to class politics. Therefore, for
the Maoist movement to merge into class politics it
must negate itself as identity politics. |
|
| A
Man of Quality |
| Jun
23rd 2010, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
|
In
this tribute, Jyoti Basu is remembered as a person who
combined three qualities: “naturalness”; complete freedom
from “cheapness”, duplicity and mendacity; and faith
in the masses, in full measure. He also had that rare
intellectual courage, which enables a person to unite
even against one’s bitterest opponents when the interests
of the people so demands. |
|
|
Private Corruption and the State |
| May
15th 2010, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
| Private
actors can use the power of government agents to facilitate
profit-making just as public servants can try and skim
off a part of the surpluses earned by private players
in areas where government intervention can influence
outcomes. But, instances of private corruption do not
get half the importance instances of public corruption
receive in the media. |
|
|
Revisiting the Growth Story |
| Mar
29th 2010, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
| Although
the official statement of the Economic Survey 2009-10
that the economy is set to return to the pre-crisis
trajectory of 9 per cent growth per annum has generated
much optimism with regard to GDP growth, there is reason
to be sceptical about the growth story being told. |
|
|
Will Women's Reservation in Parliament make a Difference? |
| Mar
9th 2010, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
| The
huge gender gaps that continue to persist in India's
socio-economic outcomes, as well as the gender-blind
nature of the design and implementation of policies
point to the urgency of having more women legislators
who can shape the content of law, as well as redirect
policies to move away from the traditional male breadwinner
model to a more gender-sensitive and inclusive approach.
|
|
| The
Danger of a Double Dip |
| Jan
29th 2010, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
| In
the current circumstances, dealing with inflation by
tightening monetary policy and exiting from the fiscal
stimulus may not be a good idea if the government does
not increase its outlays in areas other than wages and
salaries in the next fiscal. |
|
|
The Tendulkar Report: A Small Step Forward |
| Dec
23rd 2009, R.
Ramakumar |
|
| The
recently submitted report of the Tendulkar committee
that reviewed the present methods of estimation of poverty
has suggested new methodology for arriving at a strictly
technical measure of poverty. This is a welcome move,
but it is important to insist that the new estimates
are not mechanically linked to the issue of eligibility
to access major welfare schemes. |
|
| The
Eye of the Beholder |
| Nov
9th 2009, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
| The
impact of the media and the ''infotainment'' industry
now goes beyond shaping culture and social mores, to
altering human nature in unexpected ways. Nowhere is
this more evident than in the extraordinary spread of
''reality television''. |
|
| Measuring
Progress |
| Sep
30th 2009, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
| The
limitations of GDP and HDI that are used as standard
measurements of growth and development might have prompted
President Nicolas Sarkozy to set up a commission to
look into alternative ways of measuring economic and
social progress. However, the report of the commission,
instead of making much headway, has added to the existing
debate, thereby leaving some of the most crucial questions
unanswered. |
|
| How
Expensive is Food Security? |
| Sep
9th 2009, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
| The
poor monsoons and prevailing drought conditions mean
that ensuring genuine food security to the population
is the most important task before the central government.
The maximal possible estimate shows that providing subsidised
food to all households is actually not too expensive.
Therefore, if the central government is actually serious
about ensuring real food security in the country, it
has to consider certain necessary and also eminently
doable measures. |
|
| The
Public and the Private |
| Sep
4th 2009. Prabhat Patnaik |
|
| The
fact that the agrarian crisis or the current raging inflation
in India has not evoked major spontaneous struggles is
linked to the country's transition from a dirigiste to
a neo-liberal economic regime. As Indian capital becomes
increasingly integrated with global financial capital,
and the State increasingly represents the exclusive interests
of the bourgeoisie, the interests of the people are sacrificed
for the sake of the ''nation's'' emergence as an economic
power. Further, the capacity for resistance in our society
is also closely linked to the balance between the public
and private sectors, which too undergoes a fundamental
shift under neo-liberalism. |
|
| Socialism
and Welfarism |
| Aug
27th 2009, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
| Unlike
welfarism, Socialism consists not just in building a
humane society. It is of course that; but it is also
something more. Its concern is with human freedom, with
the change in the role of the people from being objects
of history to being its subjects. Even though conceptually
distinct, there is a dialectical connection between
the two, that of contributing to the process of sharpening
of class struggle - the vital reason of bourgeoisies'
opposition to Welfare State. In today's context in India,
the stiffening of the will to resist among the people,
which Welfare State measures can bring about, has to
be made practically effective through the intervention
of the Left. |
|
| Securing
Food for the People |
| Aug
18th 2009, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
| Food
security is currently one of the most important policy
areas which call for a wide range of government interventions.
The government's approach to the problem should be multi-pronged
and has to extend beyond a legal promise. A food security
law would be meaningful only when it guarantees universal
access and meets every citizen's nutritional requirements. |
|
| The
Plight of Construction Workers |
| Aug
5th 2009, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
| Lakhs
of construction workers in Delhi face inadequate safety
provisions, poor working arrangements and dire living
conditions. But, even as the money collected as cess
for meeting the social security needs of these workers
lies unutilised, an outlandish proposal has been made
to use a part of this money in a way that will effectively
subsidise contractors and builders. |
|
| Reflections
on the Left |
| Jul
1st 2009, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
| The
results of the recent Indian election suggest that the
Left needs to pursue its resistance to imperialism along
with an alternative approach to ''development'', which
defends the interests of its class base. If the Left
abandons anti-imperialism, it will not only erode its
existing class base, but also push the ''basic classes''
into the arms of extremist ideologies.ologies. |
|
| The
Future of News in Print |
| Jun
8th 2009, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
| Though
Indian media industry is yet to experience the kind
of crisis their overseas counterparts are faced with,
the declining revenues and profits of newspapers that
is forcing closure of many dailies, especially in the
US, suggests that the fortuitous interregnum should
be used to think about the future of the news media. |
|
| Danube:
The River as Life |
| May
21st 2009, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
| Claudio
Magris' book "Danube: A sentimental journey from
the source to the Black Sea", is more than a magisterial
treatise or even a valiant attempt to capture the social
history of the human habitations in all their richness
and complexity. This is a book full of people, both
historical and created and is a cornucopia of gems with
its historical and geographical details that merge and
coalesce to transcend this particular river, this particular
geography, to encompass all rivers and all humanity. |
|
| Alternative
Perspectives on Panchayati Raj |
| May
8th 2009, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
| Panchayati
Raj should not be viewed either as a mere ''governance
arrangement'' or as an end in itself. It is a means
of social transformation that derives its legitimacy
exclusively from the perspective of how far it facilitates
this process of social transformation. If we miss the
transformational role of panchayati raj, then we may
end up condoning and even accentuating caste and class
oppression in the countryside and also weakening the
State structure. |
|
| Social
Inclusion in the NREGS |
| Mar
5th 2009, C.P.
Chandrasekhar & Jayati Ghosh |
|
| The
National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme is known
to be self-targeting in that only the poorer sections
of society are likely to be interested in hard physical
work that can fetch at most only the minimum daily wage.
But there were fears that it would still exclude socially
marginal groups, including women, Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes. The article examines the current evidence
on the extent to which such groups have been involved
in NREGS work in the different major states. |
|
| Health
Imbalances |
| Mar
5th 2009, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
| While
India has one of the worst health indicators in the
world, there is a paucity of ideas and initiatives to
take care of the problem of health. The recent Report
of the Independent Commission on Development and Health
in India shows the imbalances with regard to health
indicators in the country and makes important recommendations
to fix the ailing public health system. |
|
| Where
have all the footpaths gone? |
| Feb
3rd 2009, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
| The
author puts forward a new definition of underdevelopment
in terms of lack of amenities for pedestrians in towns
and cities. Although the problems of urban slums have
been discussed in the context of rapid urbanisation,
the importance of having safe, continuous and usable
walking spaces, which are almost lacking in many urban
sprawls across the developing world, seems to be missed
out. |
|
| Whose
Security?
|
| Dec
10th 2008, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
Following
the Mumbai terrorist attacks, the Indian elite has suddenly
realised that they cannot insulate themselves from the
general loss of physical security that has been the
fate of the average less-privileged Indian for some
time now. There are thus calls for the privatisation
of security, which may actually make things worse. |
|
| The
Media and Responsibility
|
| Dec
5th 2008, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
The
electronic media’s representation of the horrific incidents
of Mumbai necessitates for the society to point at media’s
irresponsible behaviour. In sensationalising an incident
in their way of practising competitive journalism, media
has lost sight of essential humanity. |
|
| The
Coup D' Etat
|
| Aug
4th 2008, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
The
Indo-US nuclear deal is not an isolated issue, but a
part of a larger process of attempts at changing the
character of the Indian State to a neo-liberal State
integrated with US imperialism. Given the objective
economic conditions leading to further shrinkage of
the already miniscule political constituency in favour
of "reforms", such a change in the character
of the Indian State can be effected only through a coup
d'etat as was witnessed on July 22. |
|
| The
Human Costs of "World Class Cities"
|
| Aug
2nd 2008, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
Unlike
the much quoted differences in terms of old-new, integrated-marginalised,
the contrast between rich and poor in the city of Delhi
is actually more layered. Much of what is new in this
city is also poor; and many of the poor are poor precisely
because they have been drawn into the system, in ways
that have been adverse for them |
|
| Capitalism's
Democratic Deficit |
| Jul
14th 2008, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
| The
one-point agenda of clinching a nuclear deal with the
US that the current Indian government is following serves
the good purpose of diverting attention from the damage
wrought by neoliberal economic policies. But the undemocratic
political wrangling in an election year over the nuclear
deal or communal politics distort the results of a much
needed second referendum on the kind of economic policies
that the previous NDA and the current UPA governments
have followed. |
|
| Interpreting
the IPL |
| Jun
23rd 2008, Jayati Ghosh |
|
|
The
shorter and more dramatic format of Twenty20 cricket
was bound to be successful and provide a real challenge
to the most traditional format of test cricket and also
allowed cricket to compete for viewership with other
games such as football. But the real novelty of the
IPL lies in its open, blatant and even exuberant celebration
of the commercial principle. |
|
| The
Scourge of Private Tuitions |
| Jun
12th 2008, Jayati Ghosh |
|
|
In
all Indian cities and towns and increasingly in rural
areas, taking private tuition has now become common
practice and at fees which are much higher than the
regular school fees. A remarkable feature of our school
education system is the way it has allowed and even
encouraged the proliferation of this system. However,
not only is the system deeply inequalising, it adversely
affects the quality of the school education system itself.
|
|
| Bread,
Circuses and The Media |
| Jun
6th 2008, Jayati Ghosh |
|
|
The
implementation of land reforms makes the West Bengal
Panchayat system a much more egalitarian institution
from both a class and a caste point of view, which the
rest of India has not been able to replicate in general.
This progress in West Bengal is noticeable even in the
high participation of women in the Panchayat system.
|
|
| Caste
and Discrimination in Higher Education: Evidence from
the National Sample Surveys |
| Apr
8 th 2008, Jayati Ghosh |
|
|
The
issue of reservations in higher education in India has
been a volatile issue which also has direct implications
not only for public policy but also for the administration
and functioning of academic institutions, not to mention
the fate of a large number of students. This note is
an attempt to add to the currently meagre empirical
literature by analysing the available evidence on the
actual extent of marginalisation and discrimination
apparently faced by different categories in the population,
based on the results of the most recent large National
Sample Survey |
|
| Digital
Dumps: A Growing Threat for Developing Countries
|
| Mar
17th 2008,
Jayati
Ghosh |
|
The
management of huge and growing quantities of electronic
waste may emerge as one of the more important environmental
problems of developing countries in the near future.
The problems arise from the very significant health
and environmental hazards associated with e-waste. As
usual, this impact is worse in developing countries,
where people often live in close proximity to dumps
or landfills of untreated e-waste. |
|
| Violence
against Women: Economic Reforms and Increasing Insecurities |
| Jan
29th 2008, Jayati Ghosh |
| There
is a strong though complex relationship between violence
against women and economic processes. This means that
the evidence of increasing violence against women in
India in the past decade must have something to do with
the very rapid economic changes that have also been
so apparent over this period. Adverse employment and
economic conditions, especially in rural areas has increased
the pressure on women. There is also a strong undercurrent
of violence in the recent economic processes which often
target women. |
|
| The
Farce of "School Choice" |
| Jan
28th 2008, Jayati Ghosh |
| In
India, apart from the factors of poverty, gender and
other inequalities in basic infrastructure, a wide range
of various forms of social discrimination operate to
exclude children from school education and this is even
more pronounced under the private schools. The proposed
voucher system will further strengthen this discrimination
by weakening the public school system. |
|
| Water,
Water Everywhere |
| Oct
10th 2007, Jayati Ghosh |
| The
rains which inundated Kolkata in the last week of September
brought great inconvenience, distress and even acute
misfortune to many residents. A major lacunae in urban
planning across India in the form of a relative neglect
of basic issues like sewage and sanitation, causes such
crises to create a wide ranging impact including the
disruption of power supply and lack of clean drinking
water, and the spread of water-borne diseases. |
|
| The
Novartis Case |
| Oct
8th 2007, Jayati Ghosh |
| The
Madras High Court's recent rejection of Novartis' attempt
to patent the leukaemia treatment drug, sold as Glivec
in India, comes as an unexpected and much welcome break
and a precedent in the fight for cheaper lifesaving
drugs. The crucial question of whether this drug is
actually a new invention or simply a minor modification
of an older, off-patent drug, was one which is often
used by multinational pharmaceutical companies as a
method of prolonging monopoly control over products
that would otherwise move off the patent list. |
|
| It's
Raining Crores for the Cricketers |
| Oct
1st 2007, Jayati Ghosh |
| The
euphoria shown by the BCCI and several states, expressed
in terms of startling cash rewards for the players after
India won the 20Twenty world Cup, reiterates the point
that sport is not really sport any more, it is primarily
spectator entertainment, and therefore media, and therefore
big business. This also channels away funds from so
called cash strapped states which cannot finance development
infrastructure including sports infrastructure, and
results in inequities not only on a gender basis but
also between sports. |
|
| Social
Security Benefits and the New Pension Scheme |
| Sep
29th 2007, Ratan Khasnabis |
| The
New Pension Scheme (NPS) is radically different from
the existing scheme that ensures a defined benefit from
the employee without asking for a collateral contribution.
Therefore social security in the form of defined benefit
is a right which is being denied by the very concept
of NPS. Secondly, the article argues that there are
problems with the expected return of an equity-linked
financial instrument which the NPS attempts to be as
there is no guarantee that the returns from equities
would always be better than the guaranteed returns.
|
|
| Murdoch’s
Last Laffer |
| Jul
30th 2007, C.P. Chandrasekhar |
| The
offer by Rupert Murdoch to buy up Dow Jones, which owns
the Wall Street Journal shows that the Journal is now
haunted by its own promotion of changes in American
capitalism that have paved the way for the domination
of merger and acquisitions wave. This has led to conversion
of media empires into typical corporations that are
as much the targets of take-over and seekers of financial
gain as any other. This corporate-led, profit-driven
dynamics underlying this trend, promoted vigorously
by the media itself, has had serious adverse implications
for questions of integrity especially of the financial
media, which the Wall Street Journal projects itself
as promoters of. |
|
| Elites
and Equality |
| May
8 th 2007, Mritiunjoy Mohanty |
|
Changing
labour market dynamics and continued upper caste hindu
domination of the most dynamic segments of the urban
economy, which has come about as a result of their privileged
access to institutions of higher learning, clearly necessitate
an expansion of reservations in favour of OBCs. Elite
blocking strategies are therefore politically counter-productive
and socially expensive. |
|
| Ashok
Mitra |
| Mar
26th 2007, Jayati Ghosh |
|
This
review of a book of memoirs by Ashok Mitra points out
that all his endearing and contradictory personal attributes,
combined with his indisputable literary flair and prodigious
memory, are what make the book so absorbing and so much
fun to read. The final sections of the book though do
carry perhaps too much of the perception that everything
- even progressive politics and literature - was better
in the past. |
|
| Is
the Central Government Serious About Schooling? |
| Mar
12th 2007, Jayati Ghosh |
|
It
seems that in education as in so many other areas, the
UPA government has now gone almost completely off track.
The distortion of the promised Right to Education Bill,
involving the proposal to suggest a model bill to be
enacted by state governments without any additional
financial commitment by the centre, is one example of
this callous and cynical attitude. The reduction of
the proposed outlay on elementary education in the coming
years is another. |
|
| The
Farce of ''School Choice'' |
| Mar
6th 2007, Jayati Ghosh |
|
The
basic thrust of government education spending today
must surely be to ensure that all children have access
to government schools, and to raise the quality of these
schools. A voucher system would not only divert much-needed
resources, it would also divert our attention from addressing
the real issues involved in improving quality in school
education. |
|
| Universalising
Basic Services |
| Jan
31st 2007, Jayati Ghosh |
|
Providing
free and universal access to basic services as far as
possible is important not only in welfare terms or because
the poor have a human right to health and education,
but also because the social costs of poor health and
inadequate educational development are large. Recognising
this, there is an important trend even in the market-dependent
US towards universal healthcare coverage. |
|
| Brand
Equity in Higher Education |
| Dec
22nd 2006, Jayati Ghosh |
|
A
recent book throws into sharp relief the process by
which competitive brand positioning has come to dominate
all higher educational activities in the US. This entire
approach creates basic changes in the way higher education
is conceived and delivered so that the central mission
of universities to advance and transmit knowledge has
been largely ousted by this branding process. |
|
| The
Jobless Young |
| Dec
8th 2006, Jayati Ghosh |
|
The
arguments about the economic benefits that a demographic
bulge can provide India become invalid against the backdrop
of the latest NSS data on employment and unemployment.
The growing numbers of young unemployed given by the
recent data suggest that the potential advantages of
a demographic dividend will be outweighed by social
instability. |
|
| "Rent-a-womb'':
The Latest Indian Export |
| Nov
10th 2006, Jayati Ghosh |
|
Offshoring
of services in India is now seeing its new 'avatar'
in the form of surrogate motherhood which has become
a highly profitable source of foreign exchange earning
through ''reproductive tourism''. If government leaves
it unregulated and provides the wrong incentives, it
poses a significant threat to the physical and emotional
health of women in general and poor women in particular. |
|
| The
State Under Neo-liberalism |
| Oct
31st 2006, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
In
this paper, the author discusses a distinct characteristic
of the State under neo-liberalism; a transformation
in its texture through a change in the nature of bureaucracy,
State personnel and ''organic intellectuals''. However
the social legitimacy of the State, under question as
a fall out of the neo liberal economic policies, and
consequently the stability of the Capitalist order will
depend upon its identity of being a supra-social entity.
The State will also try to regain lost social legitimacy
by manufacturing some perceived enemy, in turn giving
rise to jingoism, terrorism and parochial identities. |
|
| The
Dengue Patient |
| Oct
11th 2006, Jayati Ghosh |
|
The
abysmal conditions of health care in our country - both
public and private – are often ignored by the elite,
which has seceded into its own privileged world. For
any improvement in these unacceptable conditions, there
must be a much larger infusion of public funds to provide
all the things that are now in such short supply, from
physical infrastructure to human resources. |
|
| India
is Online but Most Indians are Not |
| Sep
26th 2006, C.P. Chandrasekhar |
|
The
diffusion of Internet technology in India can take one
of two routes, one elite-oriented, the other democratic.
The Government seems to want to promote the second;
but the minimum requirement for this is credible information. |
|
| Social
Inequality, Labour Market Dynamics and the Need for Expanding
Reservation - Some Issues for Consideration |
| Sep
5th 2006, Mritiunjoy Mohanty |
|
This paper
brings two new elements to the debate around expanding
reservation in centres of excellence in higher education.
First, it establishes that Upper Caste Hindus are significantly
better off in education, employment and relative incomes
than ST, SC or OBC populations. Second, it links this
privileged positioning of Upper Castes Hindus with changing
labour market dynamics in the 1990s and shows how Upper
Caste Hindus dominate the best jobs in the Urban economy.
Since access to high quality tertiary education then
becomes key to accessing the most dynamic segment of
a decelerating labour market, the paper therefore argues
that expanding reservations to OBCs in public institutions
of higher learning is imperative. |
|
| Destroying
the Right to Education |
| Aug
10th 2006, Jayati Ghosh |
|
In
the place of the Right to Education Bill 2005, the Central
government has now formulated a model bill which has
been sent to all state governments. While increasing
and universalising access to quality education are critical
for the health of our society and its future, the former
amounts to a complete reneging of the commitment made
in the Constitutional Amendment. |
|
| The
Sardar Sarovar Dam: The Legacy of an Indifferent State |
| Jun
14th 2006, Jayati Ghosh |
|
Work
for raising the height of the Sardar Sarovar Dam continues
apace even despite the Supreme Court's orders. The Indian
state not only cannot ensure for many of its citizens
their right to exist, its market-obsessed economic priorities
seem even to have deprived it of the basic political
sense that a democratic state should at least be seen
to be caring for those at the receiving end.
|
|
| Reservations
for Backward Groups in Higher Education |
| May
22nd 2006, Jayati Ghosh |
|
This
article argues that while in India reservations have
been inadequate and relatively rigid instruments of
affirmative action, they still have certain advantages
because they are transparent, inexpensive to implement
and monitor and therefore easily enforceable, which
explain why they are still preferred.
|
|
| On
''Excellence'' and Its Pursuit |
| Mar
20th 2006, Jayati Ghosh |
|
There
is an argument that increasing salary differentials
across the teaching profession is a necessary condition
to attract the best into academic faculties. Besides
being unfortunate in itself, such a move would be very
adverse for the health of academic institutions and
the promotion of liberal arts education in general. |
|
|
Archives >> |
| |