Counterview

By Bharat Dogra*  On the morning of February 22 in a very tragic accident in an illegal firecrackers factory at Baathu (Una district of Himachal Pradesh), six women migrant workers were burnt to death. These included mother and daughter from a single family. Fourteen other workers, most of them also women migrant workers, were injured. In most cases injuries are serious. In fact, most of the injured had to be rushed to Chandigarh. The sight of badly burnt bodies was an extremely painful one. Almost 60 per cent of the workers employed in this factory have been injured or have perished. The worst affected are stated are stated to be those filling explosives into crackers. All the victims come from very poor households. Clearly there was a glaring violation of safety norms. A highly hazardous unit was functioning without the necessary clearances and without there being much awareness of preventing measures needed in the context of its high hazard potential. As the workers were very p...

By Rajiv Shah  Two years into the pandemic, 66% of the respondents to a representative survey have said that their income decreased as compared to pre-pandemic period, and just about 34% reported that their households' cereal consumption in the month preceding the survey was sufficient. In all the survey covered 6,697 respondents from 14 states, 4,881 rural and 1,816 urban. The survey, referred to as Hunger Watch-II, carried out by the advocacy group Right to Food Campaign in association with the Centre for Equity Studies, was conducted in December 2021-January 2022. The Hunger Watch-I survey was done following the national lockdown in 2020. About 31% of the Hunger Watch-II surveyed households were STs, 25% were SCs, 19% belonged to the general category, 15% OBCs and 6% were Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs). About 64% identified themselves as Hindus, 18% as Muslims. Further, 71% of the respondents were women, 41% were non-agricultural casual labourers, 19% were agricu...

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak*  Amidst of all its failures, the troika of capitalism, reactionary nationalism and imperialism move together to continue its false relevance with the help of its traditional weapons of war and regional conflicts. It is a response to divert the radical agendas of rising movements against social and political movements against capitalism and imperialism. It is within this context that one needs to reflect on imperialist imposed conflict between Ukraine and Russia. These two neighbouring countries have not only fought against oligarchy, feudalism, fascism and capitalism but also fought against imperialism. Their common battle led to the defeat of fascism and deepening of democracy in Europe. Both Ukrainians and Russians have sacrificed enormously to establish lasting peace in Europe. These two countries share common history, culture and bound by family ties. The NATO led imperialist imposed conflict is destroying the common heritage, culture and history of pe...

By Harasankar Adhikari Omicron (the latest variant of the Corona virus) spiked its wing and the infection rate shortly became high to higher. The government failed to take proper steps to arrange the required health set-up after the 1st and 2nd waves. We see the government was very casual and its efforts are limited within some restrictions. What would be the effect to be seen? This is the motive of the government? It had one solution: pandemic restrictions (a modified alternative step to lockdown). The government of West Bengal declared pandemic restrictions to curb the third wave from January 15, 2022. During the day, there is no such restriction. But it is more prudent to restrict the plying of local trains. But a huge number of populations absolutely depend on the local train for their livelihood. Surprisingly, the opening of ‘panshala’(liquor shops) has no problem. The only issue is that no “pathshala” (educational institution) can be established. From the time of the first lockd...

By Bharat Dogra*  If responsibilities with respect to a most deserving and vulnerable section of our population increase significantly and the government also accepts that responsibilities have increased yet refuses to increase the budget in accordance with increased responsibilities, then surely this is a case of serious injustice. If on top of it even the limited allocations are frequently cut mid-year and so revised estimates (RE) for several important schemes turn out eventually to be lower than the already low original allocations called Budget Estimates (BE), then surely this injustice is compounded further. Well, this is what has been seen in recent years and this injustice has become even more severe in the latest budget for financial year 2022-23. At a time when there were very compelling reasons for an exceptionally significant, long overdue rise in allocations, the government has not cared at all to rise to the needs and deliver at least delayed justice. There are sever...

By Harsh Thakor*  "Confide in struggles, not in elections" was the call of a recent people’s welfare rally, organised by the Bharatiya Kisan Union Ektam (Ugrahan) at the Barnala grain market recently. Dominated by farmers, the participants include farm-labourers, women, youth, industrial labourers and contractual labourers. Attendance by around 70,000 people, methodical preparatory work and planning preceded the rally. A landmark event, it appeared to continue the legacy of the 2012 Pagdi Sambhal conference at the same venue, and the 2017 Raj Badlo, Badlo rally at Bathinda. Regretfully, the presence of Dalit agricultural labour was negligible at the rally, even though it was recognised that the integration of the agricultural labour with the landed peasantry is essential for an agrarian movement. The participation of industrial workers intellectuals was also sparse. The rally took place amidst Left groups appeared divided on what stance they should take in Punjab polls. Ma...

In an email alert, Prof Shamsul Islam has released orginal petitions to the British betting forgiveness in 1913, 1914 and 1920. Sourced from the National Archives of India, he says, these have been made available for the first time in the original form. "The credit to gather all these goes to Amit Indurkar and his friends who are intensely involved in unearthing anti-national and anti-humanity documents of Savarkar", he adds. Click here   for the link to the documents

By IMPRI Team The Covid-19 Pandemic posed a devastating impact on the socio-economic vulnerable segment of the society in terms of health, employment and welfare. In this light, the nation pinned its safety and security on the Booster Budget. To understand the key takeaways from the Budget 2022-23 in this context, the Center for Work and Welfare (CWW), IMPRI Impact and Policy Research Institute, New Delhi, organized a panel discussion on Employment, Livelihoods, and Union Budget 2022-23 under The State of Employment and Livelihoods – #EmploymentDebate series. The event comprised eminent panellists and practitioners, namely Prof. K. Seeta Prabhu, Dr Amrita Pillai, Dr. Sandhya Iyer, Dr Sonia George, Dr Radhicka Kapoor. The chair, Ms. Prabhu clears the misconception at the beginning of the discussion regarding growth that’s said to be 1.26 times more than the pre-Covid times just based on the values of the GDP, when pre-Covid times itself wasn’t a healthy indicator because of the already...

Adivasis freed of bondage by JADS team Counterview Desk  Bringing to light the case of alleged gangrape of a 16-year-old Adivasi girl by labour two contractors, the Madhya Pradesh-based advocacy group Jagrit Adivasi Dalit Sangathan (JADS) has said, it reveals the unhindered sexual exploitation and violence faced by adivasi women, forced to migrate for work. Despite this, JADS regrets in a media communique, the government refuses to act on numerous atrocities against Adivasi workers facing bonded labour, exploitation and sexual violence. Worse, even the adivasi demand for prosecution of the guilty contractors and factory owners is summarily ignored. Text : Last week, over a hundred Adivasis of Siwni village in Barwani returned from Satara, Maharashtra after being trapped in bonded labour for over three months. Upon their return, on February 17, workers went to file police complaints when one of the workers. A 16-year-old Adivasi girl reported that contractors in Satara gangraped her...

By Allison Lau, Lauren Gonitzke*  In mid-December 2021, South African comedian Trevor Noah used “The Daily Show” to target China when he aired a segment titled “Why China Is in Africa.” While this segment was advertised as an informed, nuanced overview of the complex international relationship between China and many African states, it mainly reinforced the debunked myth of “debt-trap diplomacy” to its American audiences, ending with a throwaway line about #StopAsianHate. The myth of “debt-trap diplomacy” claims that China is using its financial resources to ensnare African countries, coercing them to hand over their natural resources at lower prices. In a recent interview with CODEPINK, Mikaela Nhondo Erskog , an educator and researcher, explains why Noah had such a disappointing take: “It was [former U.S. Secretary of State Mike] Pompeo who coined the term, or popularized it, the Chinese ‘debt trap,’ and… it is disappointing that there was no effort to look into the multiple av...