Archives: Journal Articles

Defying many odds, the BJP has held on to the political space it conquered five years ago and succeeded in expanding its territorial imprint. It did so through a campaign that was substantially different from the 2014 General Election campaign, which was marked by the rejection of the Congress and an enthusiastic embrace of the BJP’s promise of development for all. Five years later, much has changed in India with regard to the political system, which has become more centralized and less liberal. Since the 2019 election, the second Modi-led government has pushed the transition from a de facto Hindu majoritarian state towards a de jure Hindu majoritarian state through the adoption of controversial policies affecting some of the basic normative tenets of India’s old constitutional order, so much so that the BJP’s rise to power has transformed not only the party system, but also the political system itself. This is reflected in India dropping several ranks in most indices of democracy. At the same time, Indian national and state politics have followed divergent paths: the BJP dominates the national stage unchallenged by any rival, but is finding it increasingly difficult to sustain its sway in state elections – leaving the question of the Hindu nationalist hegemony open.

The new China that has emerged in the aftermath of the global financial crisis of 2008 is no longer passive or timid, but sees itself as a big power with a more strategic approach to its external environment. Retracing the ideological contest between reformers and leftists in China on the nature of the post-Maoist system, this article points out that New Delhi has to reassess the type of relationship it wants to build with its stronger and m ore self-assured northern neighbour. – See more at: http://www.epw.in/journal/2013/39/commentary/new-china-engages-india.htm…

The article follows the voyage of the concept of “essential practices of religion,” which was created in India and later borrowed by judges in Pakistan and Malaysia. It explores whether concepts and the way they are used by judges transnationally, can be identified systematically to illluminate types of contestations over the nature of constitutional identities. It uses a tool of conceptual history, onomasiology, which refers to the tracing of all names and terms for the concept of “essential practices” in these judgments, to identify the network of concepts in the constitution within which “essential practices” is situated by each judgment to create a particular meaning and outcome for religious freedom in that country. State, religion, and rights are the three pivots for the debates. It demonstrates that it is possible to transcend the problem of translatability, by asking not whether “essential practices” (or any other concept) has the same meaning in all contexts (it does not), but whether a judge who wants to privilege a particular constitutional identity uses essential practices in a particular way within a network of concepts. This approach treats judges as interpreters who are embedded within specific social, historical, and political contexts, and who strategically use foreign case-law to impose their vision of the nation’s constitutional identity. The article’s conclusions problematize the transferability of concepts such as democracy, religious freedom, authority, and so on to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria, among others.

This paper looks at the private schooling sector in Pakistan, a country that is seriously behind schedule in achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Using new data, the authors document the phenomenal rise of the private sector in Pakistan and show that an increasing segment of children enrolled in private schools are from rural areas and from middle-class and poorer families. The key element in their rise is their low fees-the average fee of a rural private school in Pakistan is less than a dime a day (Rs.6). They hire predominantly local, female, and moderately educated teachers who have limited alternative opportunities outside the village. Hiring these teachers at low cost allows the savings to be passed on to parents through low fees. This mechanism-the need to hire teachers with a certain demographic profile so that salary costs are minimized-defines the possibility of private schools: where they arise, fees are low. It also defines their limits. Private schools are horizontally constrained in that they arise in villages where there is a pool of secondary educated women. They are also vertically constrained in that they are unlikely to cater to the secondary levels in rural areas, at least until there is an increase in the supply of potential teachers with the required skills and educational levels.

Adapting Gandhi’s words on non-violence, let us proclaim that development is the first article of our faith, it is also the last article of our creed. Let us hold aloft the banner of development. Development is our birthright. People of India, unite for development: you have nothing to lose but…. sorry, one does not know quite how to continue that sentence.

Many participatory tools and methods have focused on rural development but few have considered aspects of human settlements and housing in rural areas. This paper explores a number of such tools designed for Indian professionals working in the field of housing. The paper first discusses a number of elements related to the effective participation of local residents and then describes some specific participatory rural appraisal tools developed and field tested for involving rural citizens in the design, construction and development of houses under government supported programs.

In 2013, a fishermen’s group in Hazira—the Hazira Machimar Samiti—and three affected fishermen had filed a petition against the Adanis, the project proponent of the port at Hazira, in Surat district in the south-western Indian state of Gujarat, as well as against the governmental bodies that granted environmental clearance to the project proponent. The case was filed in the National Green Tribunal (NGT) as, since 2010, cases relating to environment protection are exclusively dealt with by this tribunal for ‘effective and expeditious’ disposal of cases. The Tribunal has the powers of any other civil court in the country and can provide for relief and compensation for damages to person and property. The case was heard by the NGT’s western zone bench in Pune and on 8 January 2016, the judgment was finally delivered.

There are about 80 families in the village of Hazira engaged in fishing using traditional boats. These boats sailed into sea through a creek, at the opening of which now sits the Hazira port. The fishermen fear that if the port is expanded anymore, they will lose access to this creek. The port was developed in phases since 2003 after it was granted environmental clearance, and the petitioners claimed that this had already caused massive environmental damage to the surroundings. They demanded restoration costs for the environmental damages caused by the project proponent.

The key issues that were considered by the court in this case were whether the 2013 environment clearance itself “suffered from any illegality, impropriety or irregularities” and whether there is an actual threat of restriction of access due to expansion. While unravelling answers to these questions, the court also looked into the extent of environmental destruction that was caused due to the whole project. What started as an issue of the fishermen’s access to the sea led to questions of the project’s compliance to environmental clearance conditions, the process followed by the government in giving clearances
to the project and the environmental impacts of the project. A fine of Rs 25 crores (3.7 mn US$) was imposed on the project proponent to be used for restoration of the environment, and the environmental clearance that was given for the expansion of the project was set aside. The court also gave further orders to look into the compliance of forest-related conditions of the 2003 environment clearance.

Using pooled household level data for the Indian states of Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh we find that the size of landholdings is a negative predictor of participation in the National Rural Employment Guarantee Program (NREGP). In state level analysis this pattern survives in Rajasthan but reverses in Andhra Pradesh where we notice a positive relationship. This paper examines whether this sign reversal in Andhra Pradesh is indicative of program capture in Andhra Pradesh and better targeting in Rajasthan. We compare land inequality, ratio of NREG and slack season agricultural wage rates, political interference, and geographical remoteness across the two states and conclude that program capture may be an issue in Andhra Pradesh, largely because of these reasons. We also find evidence of complementarity between NREGP and the Public Distribution System (PDS), implying that the real income transfer through food subsidy needs supplementation.