Research Radio Economic and Political Weekly

The FIRs filed to regulate the sale and consumption of alcohol follow a curious template in Madhya Pradesh, our guests from today’s episode found. An FIR is likely to begin with a tip from an anonymous informant. Police officers would then reach the “crime site” and find that the accused does not have the appropriate licence to sell liquor. On paper, the section they are charged under is about regulating the sale of alcohol. In practice, however, our guests for today’s episode identify how this type of FIRs and subsequent legal proceedings reveal how power and control operate in India.

Nikita Sonavane and Srujana Bej join us in this episode of Research Radio. We will be discussing their article titled Construction(s) of Female Criminality: Gender, Caste and State Violence. We recommend reading the two articles “The Anxious State” and “Death by Excise Policing: The Widening Web of Carcerality in India.” Their article was a part of a specially commissioned series of seven articles published in EPW Engage on the state of NT-DNT communities in India. Both researchers refer to the CPA Project's report "Drunk on Power: A Study of Excise Policing in Madhya Pradesh," which offers rich details and insights.

Nikita Sonavane is the co-founder of the Criminal Justice And Police Accountability Project (CPA Project) focused on building accountability against criminalisation of marginalised communities by the police and the criminal justice system. Srujana Bej is a lawyer and researcher with interests in spatial justice, the rights to food and education, and critical legal studies.

Although the role of Birsa Munda has been seminal in championing the Adivasi cause, his political movements and legacy have been distorted, like other prominent Indian historical figures, including B R Ambedkar and M K Gandhi. Despite misrepresentations, Birsa Munda and his politics continue to inspire not just Adivasis but also Dalits and other marginalised sections in their pursuit of attaining social justice.

Birsa Munda, a young freedom fighter and a tribal leader was born and raised in the tribal belt of Bihar and Jharkhand. Although he lived a very short span of life, Birsa managed to mobilise the tribal community against the British regime and he forced them to introduce laws to protect the land rights of the tribal community.

This podcast is based on the article “ Setting the Record Straight on Birsa Munda and His Political Legacy” which was authored by Dr Joseph Bara. The article was published in EPW journal on 25th July 2020.

Dr Bara is an independent scholar on tribal history and education in modern India and was formerly with Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He is currently based in Ranchi.

This is part two of the podcast. You can find Part-I here.

Byju’s is likely to be the first name that pops into our heads when  we think of the words online education and EdTech. While online  education was once seen with doubt, Byju’s has reported consistent  growth in users and the pandemic has given them a turbo boost. What are  the implications of EdTech companies in changing how students learn and  grow? What types of partnerships are EdTech companies forging to grow?  How can technology be used to bring us closer to the ideal of education  as a transformative force for progress, to spark innovation and to  address inequity?

These are some of the questions that researcher Gurumurthy Kasinathan will help address. We will be discussing his articles "The Edtech Leviathan" and "Platform Capitalism and Edtech."

Gurumurthy Kasinathan is one of the founders of IT for Change. His  areas of expertise include ICT integration in school education, teacher  education and pre-service teacher education.

Opening excerpt courtesy: LearnIt

Although the role of Birsa Munda has been seminal in championing the Adivasi cause, his political movements and legacy have been distorted, like other prominent Indian historical figures, including B R Ambedkar and M K Gandhi. Despite misrepresentations, Birsa Munda and his politics continue to inspire not just Adivasis but also Dalits and other marginalised sections in their pursuit of attaining social justice.

Birsa Munda, a young freedom fighter and a tribal leader was born and raised in the tribal belt of Bihar and Jharkhand. Although he lived a very short span of life, Birsa managed to mobilise the tribal community against the British regime and he forced the crown to introduce laws to protect the land rights of the tribal community.

This podcast is based on the article “ Setting the Record Straight on Birsa Munda and His Political Legacy” which was authored by Dr Joseph Bara. The article was published in EPW journal on 25th July 2020.

Dr Bara is an independent scholar on tribal history and education in modern India and was formerly with Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He is currently based in Ranchi.

This podcast is in two parts and this is the part one. Please make sure you listen to part two as well.

The recent Right to Freedom of Religion Bill, 2021, passed in the Karnataka legislative assembly that claims to combat conversion is a diabolical move by the government to provide legal cover to the majoritarian fundamentalist oppression against minorities.

This podcast is based on the article “Anti-conversion Legislation in Karnataka: BJP’s Responsible Governance or Descent in Communal Chaos?” which was published in EPW journal on 15th January, 2022.

Cynthia Stephen is an independent social policy researcher and analyst and independent journalist. She is also a well-known trainer on Gender, policy and Development issues. Her body of work includes leadership in several people’s initiatives for justice, in large country-wide women’s empowerment groups, and theoretical work on Women’s concerns from the unrecognised perspective of women and girls from a large number of marginalised sections in India.

The podcast has been conceptualised, recorded and edited by Rahul Bhise.

In 2012, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India reported in Parliament that the government inefficiently allocated coal blocks and caused a loss of revenue to the tune of Rs 1.8 lakh crore. The period from 2010 to the national elections in 2014 was when “the allocation of natural resources to mainstream economic sectors, especially mining, was politicised like never before.” What did this process of politicisation involve? How was it different from before? In what ways has environmental regulation changed since 2014?

These are some of the questions that researchers Dr Kanchi Kohli and Dr Manju Menon will help address. We will be discussing their EPW article titled “Narratives of Natural Resource Corruption and Environmental Regulatory Reforms in India.” Their article was a part of a specially commissioned series of five papers for EPW’s annual Review of Environment and Development.

Manju Menon is a senior fellow at CPR, where she undertakes research, writing and community projects on environmental justice and the politics of resource rights. Kanchi Kohli is a senior researcher at CPR. Her policy research and practice explore the links between law, development, sustainability and environmental justice.

Opening excerpt courtesy: NDTV/Govt regulator CAG tables report on coal, Delhi airport