Sharp rise in inequalities main reason behind shrinking democratic space in India: Well-known rural journo Sainath

By A Representative
Speaking on “Shrinking Democratic Spaces and the Role of Civil Society”, doyen of rural journalism in India, P Sainath, has said that a major reason for dwindling democratic values is astonishing growth in inequalities in India. He was giving a public lecture at the Centre for Environmental Education (CEE), Ahmedabad, to mark the 30th anniversary of premier non-government organization (NGO), Janvikas.
A Magsaysay award winning journalist, Sainath said, way back on November 25, 1949, Dr BR Ambedkar, while handing over the draft constitution to the Constituent Assembly for finalization, had warned that while India had achieved political democracy, there was still no democracy in society and economy.
Pointing towards how increasing inequalities have begun to adversely affect political democracy in the country, Sainath said India’s 100 most wealthy individuals’ share in wealth equaled the wealth of 69% of the country’s population.
Last year, he said, 15 individuals owned greater share than bottom 40% of shares, adding, in this also, the bottom 10% of the population owned negative or – 0.7% of the share, the next higher decile owned 0.2% of the share, and the third higher decile owned 0.5% share.
Without naming Mukesh Ambani, Sainath said, India’s richest man owns a greater share of wealth than 400-odd million human beings, adding, what is particularly worrying is, this new inequality is being added into already existing social inequalities.
The poorer sections, this suggests, are being further pushed towards a higher level of inequality, while the wealth of the is going up, said Sainath, adding, this is leading to a situation of powerlessness of democratic spaces.
Even as underlining that this phenomenon is not new, Sainath said, under the Modi government, things have further deteriorated, adding, a major reason why demonetization, a political move, failed to get the required opposition is, a situation has been created today, where any criticism of the government makes you an ISI agent, an anti-national.
Claiming that this kind of fear he did not even see during the Emergency, Sainath said, “People today live in a nightmare of terrorism, where there is criminalization of dissent. That is reason why even those who opposed demonetization say, the intention was good, but was poorly implemented.”
Things have reached an extreme, said Sainath, especially in Chhattisgarh, where people are being terrorized as nowhere else. Charges levelled against an individual including, say, a crowd of 800 unnamed individuals, a tactic used by cops to terrorize an entire area.
All this, said Sainath, is getting further reinforced with gigantic de-politicization, which is what, he argued, civil society organizations must understand.
Blaming corporate media for refusing the show the realities of how demonetization has affected the rural areas, Sainath said, his visit, as part of creation of People’s Archives for Rural India (PARI), to 30 rural schools suggested that all over Telangana and Marathwada, midday meals collapsed because of lack of vegetables, which are bought in cash. Kids without vegetables in midday meals were mostly children of Dalits and tribals”, he added.
Pointing towards how corporate-owned media is biased, Sainath said, 66% newspaper space is devoted to Delhi, adding, Mumbai is a distance No 2, then comes Chinnai and Kolkata. As for the rural areas, they form just 0.18% of the space.
This way, he said, authoritarian structures are being pushed, adding, increasing number of crorepatis are representing the poor electorate – there were 32% crorepatis in 2004, which reached 83% in the 2014 polls.
To mark its three decades of existence, ahead of Sainath's lecture, Janvikas released a book detailing its activities over the last three decades, and opened a sprawling training centre near Sanand in Ahmedabad district, at Nani Devti village.

Comments

Academics urge Azim Premji University to drop FIR against Student Reading Circle

By A Representative A group of academics and civil society members has issued an open letter to the leadership of Azim Premji University expressing concern over the filing of a police complaint that led to an FIR against a student-run reading circle following a recent incident of violence on campus. The signatories state that they hold the university in high regard for its commitment to constitutional values, critical inquiry and ethical public engagement, and argue that it is precisely because of this reputation that the present development is troubling.

Was Netaji forced to alter face, die in obscurity in USSR in 1975? Was he so meek?

By Rajiv Shah This should sound almost hilarious. Not only did Subhas Chandra Bose not die in a plane crash in Taipei, nor was he the mysterious Gumnami Baba who reportedly passed away on 16 September 1985 in Ayodhya, but we are now told that he actually died in 1975—date unknown—“in oblivion” somewhere in the former Soviet Union. Which city? Moscow? No one seems to know.

UAPA action against Telangana activist: Criminalising legitimate democratic activity?

By A Representative The National Investigation Agency's Hyderabad branch has issued notices to more than ten individuals in Telangana in connection with FIR No. RC-04/2025. Those served include activists, former student leaders, civil rights advocates, poets, writers, retired schoolteachers, and local leaders associated with the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Indian National Congress.

Asbestos contamination in children’s products highlights global oversight gaps

By A Representative A commentary published by the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat (IBAS) has drawn attention to the challenges governments face in responding effectively to global public-health risks. In an article written by Laurie Kazan-Allen and published on March 5, 2026, the author examines how the discovery of asbestos contamination in children’s play products has raised questions about regulatory oversight and international product safety. The article opens by reflecting on lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that governments in several countries were slow to respond to early warning signs of the crisis. Referring to the experience of the United Kingdom, the author writes that delays in implementing protective measures contributed to “232,112 recorded deaths and over a million people suffering from long Covid.” The commentary uses this example to illustrate what it describes as the dangers of underestimating emerging threats. Attention then turns...

Aligning too closely with U.S., allies, India’s silence on IRIS Dena raises troubling questions

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* The reported sinking of the Iranian ship IRIS Dena in the Indian Ocean near Sri Lanka raises troubling questions about international norms and the credibility of the so-called rule-based order. If indeed the vessel was attacked by the American Navy while returning from a joint exercise in Visakhapatnam, it would represent a serious breach of trust and a violation of the principles that govern such cooperative engagements. Warships participating in these exercises are generally not armed for combat; they are meant to symbolize solidarity and friendship. The incident, therefore, is not only shocking but also deeply ironic.

The kitchen as prison: A feminist elegy for domestic slavery

By Garima Srivastava* Kumar Ambuj stands as one of the most incisive voices in contemporary Hindi poetry. His work, stripped of ornamentation, speaks directly to the lived realities of India’s marginalized—women, the rural poor, and those crushed under invisible forms of violence. His celebrated poem “Women Who Cook” (Khānā Banātī Striyāṃ) is not merely about food preparation; it is a searing indictment of patriarchal domestic structures that reduce women’s existence to endless, unpaid labour.

India’s foreign policy at crossroads: Cost of silence in the face of aggression

By Venkatesh Narayanan, Sandeep Pandey The widely anticipated yet unprovoked attack on Iran on March 1 by the United States and Israel has drawn sharp criticism from several quarters around the world. Reports indicate that the strikes have resulted in significant civilian casualties, including 165 elementary school girls, 20 female volleyball players, and many other civilians.

India’s green energy push faces talent crunch amidst record growth at 16% CAGR

By Jag Jivan* A new study by a top consulting firm has found that India’s cleantech sector is entering a decisive growth phase, with strong policy backing, record capacity additions and surging investor interest, but facing mounting pressure on talent supply and rising compensation costs .

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Rajiv Shah Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Search This Blog