POLICY CENTRE AND GENDER LAB

“This mad rush for wealth must cease and the labourer must be assured not only of a living wage but also a daily task that is not mere drudgery.” – Mahatma Gandhi Labour is the keystone for production; in fact, we cannot think of production or industries without labour. Even Mahatma Gandhi valued the labourers and asserted their dues. Yet, we see that they are one of the most vulnerable groups prone to poverty especially in emergencies like the Covid-19 pandemic. The pandemic made the plight of the workers discernible. A cover of social security & formalisation of the workforce now seems something which cannot be put on hold for long if India wants to achieve its ambitious developmental goals. It is not that nothing has been done for their security and welfare, rather ‘Labour’ being a subject under Concurrent list, around 44 Labour laws under the purview of central government and above 100 laws under the state governments existed till 1st April 2021 (Before the enforcement of the ...

Education is the biggest tool for development, the only path towards liberation and the greatest investment a country can make for its future. It is undoubtedly the most powerful weapon, with the potential to bring a massive change in the world. It cuts through the barriers put forward by the society and breaks the walls we confine our minds within. It makes us powerful, by instilling in us the capability to bring a change. It makes us accept what’s good, question what’s questionable and most importantly, dissent, against the wrongs. 2020 has been a devastatingly tough year which has not only affected the economies across the world, rattled political structures and governments but has also exposed and accelerated some pre-existing, deep rooted inequalities prevailing in the society. One area, which is majorly affected amid the coronavirus pandemic is the education sector. The sudden lockdown imposed to contain the spread of the infection, resulted in the closure of both public and priv...

 Written by the sorceress of words, ‘Toni Morrison’, ‘The Bluest eye’ is loaded with gut-wrenching questions asked in the choking air of self-contempt. Published in 1970 this is the first full-fledged written by Morrison. Morrison was the first African American woman who won a Nobel prize in literature, her writings particularly strike a chord with African American women, vigorously depicting their intimate experiences within their community. Though ‘The Bluest Eye’ is not as famous as her Pulitzer Winner ‘Beloved’, nonetheless, it carries the same Morrison-esque charm as the latter one, which becomes apparent when it rocks the reader with its vivid portrayal of grueling reality, only made poignant by the surrealism of Morrison’s language. Morrison believed that she wrote this book because she wanted to read it, ‘I thought that kind of book, with that subject - those most vulnerable, most undescribed, not taken seriously little black girls- had never existed seriously in literature...

…I want my life ‘liveable’, so I chose to forgive…   -said she with such a sparkle in her beautiful brown eyes, that the beauty of those pure depths beheld me and communicated a truth for lifetime.  This is me reflecting on the events of past months and occupying the window berth on a passenger train that will transport me to my destination, Delhi in next 10 hours. It was precisely 1 month and 2 days ago when the news of police uncovering an illegal prostitution centre made headlines and the news of minor prostitutes being returned to their homes swept like a fire in the entire village. The reason was a 16-year-old girl who was sent back home.  Where on one hand, the government celebrated their success in locating the victims of prostitution back to their homes, the village community, with total devotion, was busy in dislocating and deporting the girl. Every morning with brewing of the tea was brewed a murky image of the girl and during the day were circulated super...

If only we could stop by,  To see the Goddess of Justice losing her sword to the men of unveiled shame... If only we could stop by, To see those men untying her blindfold and tightening it around her neck... If only we could remove the buds from our ears, And hear the Republic scream... If only we could at least resolve to be a witness, To the spoliation of thousands of dreams... Source- Pinterest  For the resolve to stop by, And look straight into the eyes is an act of valour, In an era of people, Yoked to misogyny bigotry, power, and greed. For the courage to stand even though still, Portends the afterthought of,  Marching with rage until the injustice bleeds. BY HARSHIKA KUMARI