Table Of ContentAPRIL 28, 2012 Vol XLVII No 17
E con om ic& P oU tica J w E E K L Y
www.epw.in
A SAMEEKSHA TRUST PUBLICATION
His and Hers
EDITORIALS
■ Growing Military Assertion The government proposes to amend marriage laws to
■ Beef Festival at Osmania introduce greater clarity on the grounds for divorce and
■ Mumbai University: Such a Fall division of the husband's property; but a lack of
transparency in the process is not helping, page 10
COMMENTARY
■ His and Hers
■ Nonadanga Eviction Questioning the Right to the City
■ India's Exports during the Global Crisis
The recent eviction in Nonadanga in Kolkata can only be
■ The 'Corruption' of the HDI
understood in terms of the objectives of the Jawaharlal
■ Paan Singh Tomar and the Nation
Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, page 13
■ Gunter Grass and the Anti-Semitism Canard
FROM THE STATES
Delhi Water Supply Reforms
■ Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
Reforms in water supply in three areas of Delhi based
BOOK REVIEWS
on public-private partnership models are taking place
■ Behind the Beautiful Forevers
without public consultation, page 32
■ Gandhi in the West
INSIGHT
RBI Aggression
■ Delhi Water Supply Reforms
When there are so many downside risks in inflation, the
REVIEW OF WOMEN'S STUDIES
external sector and fiscal affairs, why has the central
■ Gendering the Twelfth Plan
bank been so aggressive in slashing rates? page 109
■ Gender Responsive Budgeting in India
■ Financial Incentive Schemes for the Girl Child
■ Addressing Domestic Violence
■ Beyond Feminine Public Altruism REVIEW OF WOMEN'S STUDIES
The relationship of the women's movement in India to aspects of
SPECIAL ARTICLES
development planning and policy is as old as the movement itself.
■ Administering GST in India
This issue of the RWS focuses on questions of policy in the context of
■ Who Is the Community in Community Radio? the Twelfth Plan. Two articles look at gender in the planning process.
■ Forest Policy Discourse in Bangladesh Three others examine issues relating to incentives for the girl child,
health crisis centres for victims of domestic violence and women
MONEY MARKET REVIEW
office-bearers in panchayats. page 40 onwards
■ Inflation Traded In
This content downloaded from 192.190.180.53 on Tue, 06 Nov 2018 23:53:29 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
the natural home Los Angeles | London | New Delhi
Singapore | Washington DC
for authors, editors & societies
A Woman is the full Circle.
Subscribe to in-depth research
Within her is the power to create, nurture and transform!
on Gender & Society!
in conflict
and custody
TERRORISM
Case of the LTTE
Indian Journal of Gender Studies
In Conflict and Custody Empowering Rural Women in Terrorism
Editors: Malavika Karlekar
Therapeutic Counselling Women Case of the LTTE and Leela Kasturi
for Women Micro-enterprise through Tamara Herath Central Justice The Indian Journal of Gender Studies aims
Rani Dhavan Shankardass Achievement Motivation Manager for a Policing organisation, at providing a holistic understanding of society.
Secretary General, Penal Reform and Central London, UK Its objective is to encourage and publish
Justice Association, India and Honorary Kiron Wadhera Consultant, Government Women in Terrorism examines the research, analysis and informed_discussion
President, Penal Reform International, of Delhi, India and George Koreth growing number of women actively on issues relating to gender. In recent years, it
London, UK Advisor, Government of Delhi, India engaged in terrorist activity and considers has focused on women in politics, violence as a
In Conflict and Custody is intended Empowering Rural Women intends the significance of this for theorising phenomenon, disability, the social organization
to take counselling to some ordinary life to fill this lacuna through original gender, conflict and social politics. With of the family, women’s livelihood matters,
situations for women who are enwrapped research on poor, rural, women micro- that aim, the book studies Tamil women institutional, legal and policy questions, and
in layers of dos and don’ts that take entrepreneurs, whose achievement combatants of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil motherhood and child care. View a sample
them round and round in circles without motivation has been rigorously measured. Eelam (LTTE), an armed resistance group issue: http://ijg.sagepub.com
providing any direction. This pioneering study establishes a clear which is identified as one of the deadliest Ranking: 28/35 in Women’s Studies
The book imparts theoretical and practical areclhaiteiovnesmheipn tb emtwoteiveant iponre saenndc eth/ea bssuecnccees so/f tnearrrroartiisvte lgifreo huipssto riegslo,b tahlley .b ooDkr acwaninvga ssoens Impact Factor: 0.263
guidance for trainers and would-be failure of these women in sustaining their three decades of ethno-nationalist war in ISSN: 0971-5215
counsellors to equip them for therapeutic enterprises. Sri Lanka contributing to a major social Three times a yean February, June,
coof upnesresollninalg, osfo cwiaolm, aennd f alecgeadl wpriothb leam rsa.nge 2012 • 224 pages • Paperback: ? 395 change for Tamil women in Jaffna. AOcntnoubearl Institutional Rates:
2012 • 268 pages • Hardback: ? 595 India: ? 2,200 I SAARC: $ 100
2012 • 324 pages • Paperback: ? 425
WOMEN
IN INDIAN
"BORBERbVNDS
PquSq Bonenee
AnosuoBosu
RoryChaochury
MEDIA, GENDER, and
POPULAR CULTURE
in INDIA Gender, Technology and
Development
Editors: Merete Lie, Ragnhild Lund,
Harvesting Feminist Women in Indian Media, Gender, and Mari Osawa and Thanh-Dam Truong
Knowledge for Public Borderlands Popular Culture in India Gender, Technology and Development is
Policy Edited by Paula Banerjee University Tracking Change and an international, multi-disciplinary, refereed
Rebuilding Progress of Calcutta, Kolkata, and Mahanirban Continuity journal serving as a forum for exploring the
Calcutta Research Group, India and linkages among changing gender relations,
Edited by Devaki Jain Founder and Anasua Basu Ray Chaudhury Sanjukta Dasgupta, Dipankar technological change, and developing
former Director, Institute of Social Studies Mahanirban Calcutta Research Group Sinha and Sudeshna Chakravarti societies. The journal’s main focus is on the
Trust, New Delhi, India and all at University of Calcutta, Kolkata, India shifting boundaries and meanings of gender,
Diane Elson University of Essex, UK Wethonmogerna pihni c Icnodmiapnil atBioonr doenr ltahne dcso misp laenx In contemporary India, as one side of the technology and development, addressing
Harvesting Feminist Knowledge for interrelationship between gender and coin celebrates traditional stereotypes, transnational phenomena and engaging
Public Policy brings together 14 essays political borders in South Asia. The the other side subverts the same image, in dialogs that cut across geographical
by feminist thinkers from different parts book focuses on the border regions of sometimes subtly, but often radically. boundaries. View a sample issue:
of the world, reflecting on the flaws in West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir and The push and pulls of these factors are http://gtd.sagepub.com
the current patterns of development Northeast India. The chapters in the book changing the cultural landscape of India ISSN: 0971-8524
and arguing for political, economic, and examine the stories of women whose lives decisively. This volume critiques media Three times a year: March, July, November
social changes to promote equality and are intertwined with borders, and who representations of popular culture and Annual Institutional Rates:
sustainability. The essays are written in resist everyday violence in all its myriad gender since the 1950s and tracks the India: ? 1,875 I SAARC: $ 84
the context of the “triple crises" of food, forms. changes that have taken place in Indian
fuel, and finance. society. To subscribe, write to
2011 • 268 pages • Hardback: ? 595
2011 • 396 pages • Hardback: ? 795 2011 • 232 pages • Hardback: ? 595 [email protected]
www.sagepub.in
This content downloaded from 192.190.180.53 on Tue, 06 Nov 2018 23:53:29 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
APRIL 28, 2012 I VOL XLVII NO 17 Economic&PoliticalwEEKLY
His and Hers EDITORIALS
Growing Military Assertion.......................7
10 The proposed amendment to marriage laws which will have far-reaching
Beef Festival at Osmania..........................8
consequences for a woman’s right to her husband’s property on the
Such a Fall..........................................9
breakdown of a marriage needs critical fine-tuning.
FROM 50 YEARS AGO...........................................9
Nonadanga Eviction
COMMENTARY
13 The Nonadanga incident in Kolkata needs to be understood in terms of what
His and Hers—Flavia Agnes.....................10
the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission aims to achieve in our
Nonadanga Eviction: Questioning the Right to
cities. the City—Swapna Banerjee-Guha...............13
India’s Exports at the Time of the Global Crisis
India's Exports at the Time of the Global Crisis
—Bishwanath Goldar.............................15
15 The superior growth performance of India’s exports to the us compared to The ‘Corruption’ of the Human Development
the Chinese exports is due to the difference in the product composition of us Index—Dhanmanjiri Sathe......................18
imports from these two countries. Paan Singh Tomar, the Nation and the
Sportsperson—M K Raghavendra...............20
Paan Singh Tomar, the Nation and the Sportsperson Gunter Grass and the Anti-Semitism Canard
20 The film Paan Singh Tomar is used to study sports nationalism and the role —Vinay Lai.......................................23
of the State in fostering the nation.
FROM THE STATES
BJP in Karnataka: Between the Devil and the
Gunter Grass and the Anti-Semitism Canard
Deep Blue Sea—Shivasundar....................25
23 Israel’s furious reaction to Gunter Grass’ poem on its atomic power status
BOOK REVIEWS
shows that it all too easily paints any criticism as “anti-Semitism”.
Citizens of an ‘Undercity’—Kalpana Sharma.... 28
Gandhism in the UK and US
Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
—Usha Thakkar..................................29
25 The very factors which the bjp used to gain power in Karnataka - caste
manipulation and caste alliances - could lead to its undoing in the state. INSIGHT
Delhi Water Supply Reforms:
Delhi Water Supply Reforms Public-Private Partnerships or Privatisation?
—Sujith Koonan, Preeti Sampat.................32
32 The manner of implementation of water supply reforms in Delhi is
undermining principles of transparency, accountability and participation.
REVIEW OF WOMEN’S STUDIES
State Policy and the Twelfth Plan through a
Administering Goods and Services Tax in India
Gender Lens—J Devika, Mary E John,
84 The best way to operationalise the Goods and Services Tax could be by Kalpana Kannabiran, Sharmila Rege,
placing a single national agency/department in charge. Samita Sen, Padmini Swaminathan.............40
Gendering the Twelfth Plan
Who Is the Community in Community Radio? —Mridul Eapen, Aasha Kapur Mehta...........42
92 There is an insufficient deconstruction of the complexities of the Gender Responsive Budgeting in India
—Yamini Mishra, Navanita Sinha...............50
“community” in community radio literature and discussion.
Ladlis and Lakshmis: Financial Incentive
Deconstructing Forest Policy Discourse in Bangladesh Schemes for the Girl Child—T V Sekher........58
Addressing Domestic Violence within Healthcare
100 Understanding the implementation of Bangladesh’s forest policy.
Settings: The Dilaasa Model —Padma Bhate-
Deosthali, T K Sundari Ravindran, UVindhya...66
Money Market Review
Beyond Feminine Public Altruism
109 The hawkish posture reflected in the rbi’s macroeconomic review makes the —J Devika, BinithaVThampi................ 76
nose-diving and dovish policy action on the repo inexplicable.
SPECIAL ARTICLES
Review of Women's Studies Administering Goods and Services Tax in India
Five papers on policy and women in the context of the Twelfth Plan. —Praveen Kishore................................84
Who Is the Community in Community Radio?
Gender Responsive Budgeting in India: What Has Gone Wrong? —Savita Bailur...................................92
50 An analysis of the two government strategies for institutionalising gender The Ghost in the Machine: Deconstructing Forest
Policy Discourse in Bangladesh
responsive budgeting.
—Niaz Ahmed Khan, Barbara Harriss-White....100
Financial Incentive Schemes for the Girl Child
MONEY MARKET REVIEW
58 A desk review of 15 girl child promotion schemes across the states. Inflation Traded In
—EPW Research Foundation...................109
Addressing Domestic Violence within Healthcare Settings
CURRENT STATISTICS.........................................Il6
66 A critical look at anti-domestic violence intervention programmes at health centres.
LETTERS..............................................................4
Women Leaders in Kerala's Urban Bodies
SUBSCRIPTION RATES AND
76 A study of women leaders of urban governance in Kerala. NOTES FOR CONTRIBUTORS.................................6
This content downloaded from 192.190.180.53 on Tue, 06 Nov 2018 23:53:29 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Economic&PoliticalwEEKLY LETTERS
ISSN 0012-9976
Ever since the first issue in 1966,
Is Caste Losing Ground? English dailies, endogamy is still intact
epw has been India’s premier journal for
comment on current affairs though the mode of spouse search is
and research in the social sciences.
It succeeded Economic Weekly (1949-1965), This is with reference to “The Peculiar quite modern. Moreover, the author has
which was launched and shepherded Tenacity of Caste” by Andre Beteille ignored the fact that hypergamy is still
by Sachin Chaudhuri,
who was also the founder-editor of epw. (epw, 31 March 2012). The paper which relevant and powerful in modern hi-tech
As editor for thirty-five years (1969-2004) basically tries to argue that caste as social marriages also. Most of matrimonial
Krishna Raj
system is losing ground in India is unable advertisements of the upper caste families
gave epw the reputation it now enjoys.
to convince us by offering us evidence for their daughters which speak of “Caste
EDITOR
about what it is trying to say. The author No Bar” in fact request sc-st grooms to
C RAMMANOHAR REDDY
has invariably used the term “evidence” in excuse them irrespective of their educa
DEPUTY EDITOR
BERNARD D’MELLO the paper but what is actually presented tion and occupation.
is based on a common-sense under It is true that the linkage between
WEB EDITOR
SUBHASH RAI standing of the situation. caste and occupation is witnessing a
The three major areas - rules pertain considerable decline. But even today an
SENIOR ASSISTANT EDITORS
LINA MATHIAS ing to purity and pollution, rule of endo ex-untouchable cannot profitably run a
ANIKET ALAM
gamy and the interlinkage of caste and tea stall in a village. Meanwhile, nobody
SRINIVASAN RAMANI
ASHIMA SOOD occupation - that are cited for illustrating from a brahmin caste so far has set up a
BHARATI BHARGAVA
the declining importance of caste are not meat stall in a village or town in our
COPY EDITORS new things to say. Our society started country. It is also true that most of the
PRABHA PILLAI
JYOTI SHETTY witnessing these changes from the time sanitation workers in municipal corpora
of the British and the onset of modern tions and large hospitals still come from
ASSISTANT EDITOR
P S LEELA technology has accelerated this process. the lower castes.
But if we look dispassionately at these Basically the paper is written from
PRODUCTION
U RAGHUNATHAN developments, we may find an altogether the perspective of “middle class Indians”
S LESLINE CORERA
different picture. The caste sentiment is who are known to deny caste not because
SUNEETHI NAIR
still strong even in the most secular of they are against it but because they oppose
CIRCULATION
GAURAANG PRADHAN MANAGER office spaces and industries. reservations based on caste. Across the
B S SHARMA The author has ignored the fact that world, the subalterns are known for
ADVERTISEMENT MANAGER social networking plays a crucial role in their democratic and egalitarian values
KAMAL G FANIBANDA
workplaces. And in our context caste is but we are unable to understand the pas
GENERAL MANAGER & PUBLISHER an important factor in networking. I sion that the author has for the middle
K VIJAYAKUMAR
have come across cases where people of class as agents of change and transfor
EDITORIAL
“all castes” from the upper castes have mation. Both at the conceptual and at
[email protected]
formed informal groups for having the methodological level, the paper suffers
CIRCULATION
[email protected] lunch in their offices. There are also from serious weaknesses. Can we consider
ADVERTISING cases where the upper caste person who the changes that the caste system has
[email protected]
joins a particular lunch group in the been witnessing as evidence of destruc
ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL WEEKLY initial stage withdraws from that group tion or decline of caste? Why does caste
320-321, A TO Z INDUSTRIAL ESTATE
for the only reason of its lower caste con continue despite such changes? What
GAN PAT RAO KADAM MARG, LOWER PAREL
MUMBAI 400 013 centration. What I understand, based on would be the time period and policy ini
phone: (022) 4063 8282
my observation, is that the rules of purity tiatives needed for caste to disappear
fax: (022) 2493 4515
and pollution are ignored only when the from our society? These are some of the
EPW RESEARCH FOUNDATION caste is not known. As and when the questions not answered in the paper.
epw Research Foundation, established in 1993, conducts caste identity of the members becomes Anil S Sutar
research on financial and macro-economic issues in India.
clear, it pollutes people’s minds. There is Tata Institute of Social Sciences
DIRECTOR also evidence from the National Human MUMBAI
K KANAGASABAPATHY
C 212, AKURLI INDUSTRIAL ESTATE Rights Commission and National Com
KANDIVALI (EAST), MUMBAI 4OO 101 mission for Scheduled Castes of several ‘What Failure
phones: (022) 2887 3038/41
fax: (022) 2887 3038 cases of the lower division staff harass of Left Theatre?*
[email protected]
ing their office superior just because of
Printed by K Vijayakumar at Modem Arts and Industries, his lower caste background. I wish to produce some arguments on
151, A-Z Industrial Estate, Ganpatrao Kadam Marg,
Lower Parel, Mumbai-400 013 and As far as the rules of endogamy are the article “Rise and Fall of Calcutta’s
published by him on behalf of Sameeksha Trust concerned, the author is partly true. Group Theatre: The End of a Political
from 320-321, A-Z Industrial Estate,
Ganpatrao Kadam Marg, Lower Parel, Mumbai-400013. If one goes through the matrimonial Dream” by Parimal Ghosh (epw, 10
Editor: C Rammanohar Reddy. advertisements published in the leading March 2012).
April 28, 2012 vol xlvii no 17 Q353 Economic & Political weekly
This content downloaded from 192.190.180.53 on Tue, 06 Nov 2018 23:53:59 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
LETTERS
Ghosh tries to assert that “legislature one of the esteemed institutions of higher This, in our opinion, constitutes a
leftism” ended the “Calcutta Group Theatre learning in India under the Ministry of clear violation of freedom of speech and
Movement”. But was it a failure? Or was Human Resource Development. all conceivable rights of an individual
it a random exercise of left theatre? You might be aware that recently the due to illegal action by the state police.
There are a lot of other examples. In the Government of West Bengal undertook a The state administration has issued pub
1980s and 1990s protest play groups of massive eviction drive of slum-dwellers lic statements in both print and electron
Calcutta had produced a variety of other with police force without any rehabilita ic media in support of this barbaric act.
plays - plt’s Darao Parthikbar (on the tion measures. As a natural protest against We are extremely perturbed by such
life and deeds of Madhusudan Dutta), this unjustified police action, there were use of State force in cracking down
Annaya Theatre’s Madhav Malanchi peaceful demonstrations by concerned on human rights activists, and citizens
Kayinya (A Folk Erotica of Bangladesh) citizens, for which prior permissions were attempting to raise issues of concern
and Nattayan’s Brishchik are worthy arranged by the local police. In spite of related to some of the poorest and most
of mention. this, the Kolkata police used force to vulnerable people of our country. This
We wish to add Tapaswi 0 Tarangini crack down on the demonstrators. It was violent suppression of protest appears
and Pratham Partha (plays of Buddhadev while participating in a peaceful protest also to be an attempt to threaten those
Basu) that were performed by Theatron against the eviction of slum-dwellers of who might raise their voice in dissent.
and three productions of Agatha Christie’s Nonadanga area of east Kolkata that It would therefore help if you could
Mousetrap by three separate groups in Partho Sarothi Ray was arrested along personally intervene to resolve these
the same period. with 68 others including several women matters urgently. We fear that this ap
Theatre is independent of social cross and a nine-year-old girl on 8 April 2012. proach of the state has serious implica
currents and vice versa. And if the theatre Of those arrested, seven including Ray, tions not only for the events occurring in
of protest has collapsed after “legislature have been detained in police custody for Kolkata but for the larger democratic
leftism”, another form of protest theatre several days, and now six of them are in ideals which this country espouses. In
will emerge. judicial custody and one in cid custody. particular, we request that Partho
In the same decades there was a produc In order to justify its high-handedness, Sarothi Ray and others be granted bail
tion Bandhya Karkhanas Gete by cpt and the police slapped many dubious cases immediately. We also urge that all the
Ganabishan on the futile labour policy of against Partho Sarothi Ray and others, dubious charges placed against Partho
the Left Front. And in recent years there such as Section 353 (assault on public Sarothi Ray, Mahapatra and the other
was a production like Adbhut Adhar by servant), Section 332 (voluntarily causing protestors be dropped and an impartial
Sanskriti on the Left Front’s failure and hurt to public servant). Section 141 (unlaw enquiry by a central agency be conducted
Chotto Bakulpurer Yatri by Swapna- ful assembly), Section 143 (punishment), into these matters to prevent any further
sondhani on the unlawful land-grabbing Section 149 (common objective of disrup violation of human rights.
programme of the Front. tion) of the Indian Penal Code. The relation T A Abhinandan, IISc, Bangalore;
Sanjib Chatterjee of these charges with (or lack thereof) the Ayan Banerjee, Narayan Banerjee, USER,
KOLKATA peaceful demonstrations of 8 April has not Kolkata, Kirill Bolotin, Vanderbilt University;
been made clear at all. We are extremely Swapan Chakrabarti, Calcutta University;
Suppression of Noam Chomsky, MIT, USA; Bhanu Das, IAA,
concerned of the treatment meted out to
Constitutional Rights Bangalore; Subhadeep De, NIST, Maryland,
Partho Sarothi Ray and others.
USA; Aparna DuttaGupta, HCU, Hyderabad;
(An open letter to Manmohan Singh) Incidentally, the excess of police has Saikat Ghosh, SNBNCBS, Kolkata;
clearly not ended. On 12 April 2012 human Vrinda Grover, Human Rights lawyer,
This is to bring to your immediate rights activists were attacked and later New Delhi; Paul Krapivsky, Boston University,
USA; Ananda Lakshmi, Chennai;
attention of the detention of an emi arrested at a demonstration against the
Ludvig Lizana, Umea University, Sweden;
nent and internationally acclaimed scien illegal evictions and the detention of Ray
Mayna Majumdar, Editor - Katha, Kolkata;
tist Partho Sarothi Ray along with several and others. Furthermore, recent media Sanjoy Majumdar, IIT, Kharagpur;
other citizens by the Kolkata police. reports reveal that on 13 April 2012, Harsh Mander, Member, NAC;
Partho Sarothi Ray is an established Ambikash Mahapatra, a faculty in chem Babu Mathew, NLU, Delhi;
Pnina Motzafi-Haller, Ben Gurion University,
scientist in the field of molecular biology, istry department from Jadavpur Univer
Israel; Manas Mukherjee, NUS, Singapore;
his scientific research findings have been sity was first beaten up mercilessly by
Rajendran Narayanan, Cornell University, USA;
published in world-class journals includ goons for an action which was as innocu
Arnab RaiChaudhuri, IISc, Bangalore;
ing Nature. He has also been awarded ous as forwarding an email to his friends Manju Ray, CSIR-Emeritus Professor,
the Wellcome Trust/DBT India Alliance whose content constituted a cartoon Bose Institute, Kolkata; Aruna Roy, MKSS;
Intermediate Fellowship in 2010 which is that had already been posted on Face- Shiv Shethi, RRI, Bangalore;
Pragya Shukla, IIT, Kharagpur;
one of the most prestigious honours that book a few weeks earlier. It is frighten
Rahul Siddharthan, IMSc, Chennai;
a young life scientist in India can receive. ing to note that instead of taking action
Vishal Sood, Copenhagen; Kavita Srivastava,
He is a faculty of Indian Institute of against the assaulters, the West Bengal PUCL, Jaipur; Abha Sur, MIT, US
Science Education and Research Kolkata, police arrested Mahapatra. and many others
Economic & Political weekly E33S9 April 28, 2012 vol xlvii no 17 5
This content downloaded from 192.190.180.53 on Tue, 06 Nov 2018 23:53:59 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Subscription Rates
Print Edition - For India Web Edition/Diqital Archives
The full content of the EPW and the entire archives are also available to those who do not wish to
Rates for Six Months (in Rs)
subscribe to the print edition.
Category Print (Plus free web access to issues of previous two years) Print+Digital Archives
Individuals 800 1,100 India (in Rs) SAARC (in US $) Rest of the World (in US $)
Category Number of Number of Number of
Rates for One Year (in Rs) Concurrent Users Concurrent Users Concurrent Users
Category Print (Plus free web access Print + Digital Archives
to issues of previous two years) (According to Number of Concurrent Users) Institutions Up to Five 2,500 Up to Five 200
Up to 5 16to 10 | MorethanlO |Single User Six to 10 4,000 Six to 10 320
Institutions 3,000 5,000 6,000 1 7,500 MorethanlO 6,000 MorethanlO 50 More than 10 410
Individuals 1,500 1,800 Individuals Single User 1,000 Single User 20 Single User 40
Teachers/Researchers 1,200 1,400
Students 750 900
Rates for Three Years (in Rs) Types of Web Access to the Digital Archives
Category Print (Plus free web access to Print + Digital Archives
issues of previous two years) Single User Individual subscribers can access the site by a username and a password, while
Individuals 4,200 5,100 institutional subscribers get access by specifying IP ranges.
Teachers/Researchers 3,300 4,000 To know more about online access to the archives and how to access the archives send
Concessional rates are restricted to students, teachers and researchers in India. To subscribe us an email at [email protected] and we will be pleased to explain the process.
at concessional rates, please submit proof of eligibility from an institution.
Print Edition: All subscribers to the print edition can download from the web, without making
any extra payment, articles published in the previous two calendar years. How to Subscribe:
Print plus Digital Archives: Subscriber receives the print copy and has access to the entire archives Payment can be made by either sending a demand draft/cheque in favour of
on the EPW web site. Economic and Political Weekly or by making online payment with a credit card/net
Print Edition — For SAARC and Rest of the World (AirMail) banking on our secure site at www.epw.in. (For Inland subscriptions if making
Airmail Subscription for One Year (in US $) payment by cheque, please add Rs 35 to cheques drawn on banks outside Mumbai,
Print (Plus free web access to issues Print + Digital Archives when collection is not at par).
of previous two years) (According to Number of Concurrent Users)
Institutions
SAARC 130 Address for communication:
Rest of the World 250 Economic & Political Weekly
320-321, A to Z Industrial Estate
Individuals
SAARC 100 Ganpatrao Kadam Marg,
Rest of the World 170 Lower Parel, Mumbai 400 013, India
Notes for Contributors
Contributors are requested to follow epw's style decision on whether the paper for the Special Article General Guidelines
sheet while preparing their articles. The style section is accepted for publication. • Writers are requested to provide full details for
sheet is posted on epw's website at • Articles accepted for publication can take up to correspondence: postal address, day-time phone
http://epw.in/epw/user/styletocontributors.jsp. It will six to eight months from date of acceptance to numbers and email address.
help immensely for faster processing and error-free appear in the epw. Papers with immediate relevance epw requests writers not to send revised versions
editing if writers follow the recommended style for policy would be considered for early publication. based on stylistic changes/additions, deletions of
sheet, especially with regard to citation and Please note that this is a matter of editorial judgment. references, minor changes, etc, as this poses
preparation of the bibliography. challenges in processing. Revised versions will not be
Commentary
Special Articles epw invites short contributions to the 'Commentary' processed. When there are major developments in
epw welcomes original research papers in any of the section on topical social, economic and political the field of study after the first submission, authors
social sciences. developments. These should ideally be between 1,000 can send a revised version.
• Articles must be no more than 8,000 words, and 2,500 words. Copyright
including notes and references. Longer articles will A decision on Commentary-length articles will be • epw posts all published articles on its website
not be processed. communicated within 6-8 weeks, or earlier. and may reproduce them on cds.
• Contributions should be sent preferably by email. • epw also posts all published articles on select
Keywords
• Special articles should be accompanied by an Authors are requested to list six to eight keywords databases.
abstract of a maximum of 150-200 words. for their articles. • Copyright of all articles published in the Journal
• Papers should not have been simultaneously belongs to the author or to the organisation where
submitted for publication to another journal or Book Reviews the author is employed as determined by the
newspaper. If the paper has appeared earlier in a epw sends out books for review. It does not normally author's terms of employment.
accept unsolicited reviews. However, all reviews that
different version, we would appreciate a copy of Permission for Reproduction
are received are read with interest and unsolicited
this along with the submitted paper. • No published article or part thereof should be
review on occasion is considered for publication.
• Graphs and charts need to be prepared reproduced in any form without prior permission of
in MS Office (Word/Excel) and not in jpeg or Discussion the author(s).
other formats. epw encourages researchers to comment on A soft/hard copy of the author(s)'s approval should
• Receipt of articles will be immediately articles published in epw. Submissions should be 800 be sent to epw.
acknowledged by email. to 1,600 words. Address for communication:
• Every effort is taken to complete early processing Letters Economic & Political Weekly
of the papers we receive. However, we receive 70 Readers of epw are encouraged to comment 320-321, A to Z Industrial Estate
articles every week and adequate time has to be (300 words) on published articles. Ganpatrao Kadam Marg,
provided for internal reading and external refereeing. All letters should have the writer's full Lower Parel, Mumbai 400 013, India
It can therefore take up to four months for a final name and postal address. Email: [email protected], [email protected]
APRIL 28, 2012 VOL xlvii no 17 GEE3 Economic & Political weekly
This content downloaded from 192.190.180.53 on Tue, 06 Nov 2018 23:54:02 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
APRIL 28, 2012
Growing Military Assertion
What has made the country’s military top brass increasingly more forceful vis-a-vis the civilian authority?
Increasingly, in recent times, factional feuds within the Indian only to be expected. Indeed, in the matter of publicly voicing
Army and the hand of the Ministry of Defence in these rival their opposition to any amendments of the Armed Forces
ries, as also public assertions of the top brass of the armed (Special Powers) Act (afspa), the Disturbed Areas Act, or Sec
forces on policy matters are being played out in the mainstream tion 197(2) of the Criminal Procedure Code to dilute provisions
media. A front page sensationally headlined story in the Indian providing immunity from prosecution, whether in Kashmir or
Express (4 April 2012) of unauthorised troop movements near the north-east, or to proposals to lift the “disturbed area” tag in
the capital on 16 January and how this “spooked” the govern certain districts, the leaders of the Army have been tacitly
ment is certainly an instance of journalistic overplay. The sug encouraged by their civilian-political bosses to do so.
gestion is that Chief of Army Staff General V K Singh is supposed The armed forces leadership has, however, got out of hand in
to have engineered the troop movements to coincide with the certain instances. Recall that in the aftermath of Washington’s
filing of his affidavit in the Supreme Court that contested the illegal raid in Abbottabad in Pakistan in which United States
Ministry of Defence’s claim that he was born in 1950, and not in military personnel assassinated Osama bin Laden, two of the
1951 as in the Army’s personnel records. The general, it seems, top brass of our armed forces boasted that our forces also have
wanted to “spook” the government for insisting on pensioning the capability and the competence to undertake such commando
him a year earlier than he thought his retirement was due! operations in another country to eliminate terrorists. And on a
Predictably, Defence Minister A K Antony rubbished the news number of occasions in the past decade successive army chiefs
report as “totally baseless”. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh have publicly spoken about “winning” a nuclear war against
described it as “alarmist” and the army chief himself termed it as Pakistan and more recently about a new “Cold Start” doctrine
“fables of a sick mind”. But the general’s claim to be younger than for a limited and destructive war with our western neighbour.
he was shown in the first records, the government’s bid to retire The leaders of the armed forces can, however, prove more sensi
him on the basis of these and not later records, the subsequent ble and prudent than the political leadership where they per
allegations about an attempt to bribe him, and many other sordid ceive that their interests may be harmed. In 2009, the Congress
details that are now tumbling out may have more to do with strug Party led-upA government wanted the Indian Army’s Rashtriya
gles in the top echelons of the Indian state over access to riches. Rifles and the Indian Air Force to take part - along with the
The armed forces have been modernising and technologically Border Security Force, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, and
upgrading their arsenal since the late 1990s, and have been the Central Reserve Police Force - in what came to be called
demanding greater allocation of funds from the public exchequer. Operation Green Hunt, the unprecedentedly huge, multi-state,
In this, they have been aided by the fact that the Congress-led armed offensive against the Maoists. But the military differed
United Progressive Alliance (upa) government is as obsessed with the government; it prevailed upon the civilian-political leader
as its earlier Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic ship and instead opted to provide logistical support, training in
Alliance counterpart that nothing should be left undone in jungle warfare, and take a leading part in the formulation of the
preparing them to be able to simultaneously go to war, if neces military strategy of the paramilitary forces.
sary, against Pakistan and China. And, one cannot ignore the Yes, money, irrespective of how it is gained, is also at stake,
destructive involvement of the Army in Kashmir and in parts of for India is now the world’s largest importer of armaments. It
the north-east against sections of our very own people. is reported that in the Tatra deal, which is presently being
In the pursuit of this multiple agenda of destruction and the enquired into by the Central Bureau of Investigation, the public
creation of waste, the military has come to preside over an ever sector undertaking Bharat Earth Movers (beml), in true com
larger resource base and its leadership is beginning to feel a prador style, insisted on purchasing the trucks from the London-
greater sense of its own importance. That in the present setting based non-resident Indian Ravinder Rishi’s firm instead of
the military top brass would be roused and would brace itself to contracting with the Czech manufacturer which repeatedly
assert its power vis-^-vis the country’s civilian leadership was tried to persuade beml to directly deal with it. Be that as it may,
Economic & Political weekly DDZ53 april 28, 2012 vol xlvii no 17 7
This content downloaded from 192.190.180.53 on Tue, 06 Nov 2018 23:54:06 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
EDITORIALS
India’s strategic alliance with the us has instilled in the top part of the world, control of the Indian Ocean is what Washing
brass of the armed forces a sense of their own significance, and ton is focusing upon, and here it is the Indian Navy that is
an ascendancy in the hierarchy of power that they could not involved in cooperation with its us counterpart.
have even dreamed of. The us presently holds more military Little wonder then that the country’s military leadership is
exercises with India than with any other power. And, in this now increasingly more assertive vis-a-vis the civilian authority.
Beef Festival at Osmania
The political battle over what we can eat is a challenge to established politics across the spectrum.
Beef, or more generally, the meat of cattle has been a con This is the first time in the history of modern India that a
tentious issue for more than a century, leading at times to political challenge has been thrown, apparently with some
riots, killings, social divisions and political movements. success, to the Hindutva politics around the cow. This move also
Much of this has been initiated by groups foregrounding their throws a spanner in the Hindutva attempts to ally with and
“Hindu” identity who have used the protection of the cow to mark possibly incorporate dalit politics within its folds. Despite the
out lines of difference from the “Other”, primarily Muslims. Indian widening legal proscription on the sale of beef, it remains widely
politics and academia are by now, thanks to this bloody history, available though only surreptitiously in most states of India.
well conditioned to view public posturing over beef eating as the Official data itself suggests that beef is among the most com
preserve of Hindutva politics which furthers a reactionary agenda. monly eaten of non-vegetarian foods. In 2001 out of a total
The “beef festival” organised by some dalit and left student annual per capita meat consumption of 5.6 kg, beef (cow, buffalo,
groups in Osmania University of Hyderabad has been, however, veal, etc) accounts for as much as 2.8 kg while lamb, goat, pork and
quite an unprecedented affair. This is perhaps the first time that chicken together make up for the rest. Government data indicates
an organised voice has been raised in favour of eating beef. that Indians on an average probably get more protein from the
What is striking is that most political formations did not know consumption of meat and fish than they get from pulses.
how to react to this “festival”. The secular formations, which do It is also important to remember that beef is primarily a food
not want dietary restrictions imposed by law, seem to be divided, of the poor, whatever the religious affiliation. And the Muslim
largely between those who have condemned this event for gentry often exhibit biases about beef similar to upper-caste
stirring up communal and caste tensions over a “trivial” issue Hindus. The shrillness and violence of the cow protection move
and those who have looked on in indifference at this “spectacle”. ment has been successful in representing the food of the poor
Outside of the networks of dalit activism there do not seem to and discriminated as the preferred dish of the Muslim.
be many takers for what these groups call a movement against The question, then, which has been foregrounded by the
“Food Fascism”. organisers of the Osmania University beef festival is: Who are
The Hindutva forces, of course, reacted with the expected these people who eat all this beef (and meat)? How has Hindu,
violence, but their protest was both ill-organised and localised or even Indian, food culture been defined as largely vegetarian
and indicated that they really did not know how to meet this and who has decided that beef is against Hindu food culture? It
ideological and political argument that beef is integral to dalit is the north Indian, Hindu, upper-caste male who has had a free
food cultures and should be provided in public spaces like uni run for more than a century and a half in defining Indian food and
versity hostels and canteens. The cow-related politics of Hindutva culture. The beef festival is an assertion by those who have
has been primed only to hit at the Muslims, while here the op remained at the cultural/ideological margins of India that they
ponents were dalits, whom the Hindutva forces are keen to bring will not be defined anymore by this so-called mainstream; rather
within their political fold. This explains much of their ideologi they will define what constitutes this mainstream.
cal and political disarray on this occasion. That this beef festival Until some years ago, the entrants from the margins into the
was timed with Ambedkar Jayanti made matters that much national mainstream were too few to assert themselves. But the
more difficult for the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh family cumulative effect of the slow, yet steady, rise in literacy, social
which would not want to appear hostile to this dalit icon. as well as physical mobility, the opening up of professions, the
A similar food protest was organised by dalits in Karnataka development of the media, the consumerist boom, etc, of the
who cooked and served meat on Ambedkar Jayanti to break a past few decades are all perhaps leading to a structural trans
state law which banned sale and consumption of meat on that formation of India’s mainstream. It is not a coincidence that the
day, forcing the Bharatiya Janata Party government to quietly beef festival was organised in a university that has been at the
withdraw its order. News reports suggest that Osmania Univer heart of live political battles over caste, region and religious
sity’s beef festival has become something of an exemplar and identity and not in one of the traditional left bastions. This new
plans are now afoot in various parts of the country to organise politics challenges and confounds not just the Hindutva forces,
such beef and/or meat festivals to highlight “non-brahmanical” but equally the gentrified left-liberal politics of composite
food traditions. culture and Sarva Dharma Sambhava.
8 April 28, 2012 vol xlvii no 17 DDB3 Economic & Political weekly
This content downloaded from 192.190.180.53 on Tue, 06 Nov 2018 23:54:06 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
EDITORIALS
Such a Fall
Mumbai University, once an iconic institution, has lost its way.
The current glare of public attention on the sorry state of Mumbai University’s jurisdiction extends from Mumbai to Ratnagiri
affairs of Mumbai University was inevitable, given the covering approximately 6.4 lakh students and 654 colleges. By
series of mishaps in the conduct of recent examinations. any standards this is an enormous load and given the university’s
These include a paper leak leading to a court petition and re-exam infrastructural resources an impossible one to manage efficiently.
(for about 85,000 students), errors in allocating centres, delay Apart from increasing the staff strength and using information
in distribution of hall tickets and even failure to print a set technology to aid administrative work, long-term and thoughtful
of exam papers. All this highlights the steady decline over the planning that is an integral part of academic excellence would
past two decades of various structures and mechanisms of this have helped to tackle the situation. Instead, the university went
iconic institution. Mumbai University seems to suffer from an ahead and introduced the credit-based grading system in the
assortment of maladies that include governance issues, political 2011-12 academic year adding to the teaching staff’s workload
interference and indifference in equal measure, an impossibly and paving the way for dilution in the standards of teaching.
vast jurisdiction, poor infrastructure and woefully inadequate The only salutary outcome of the outcry over the mess in the
teaching and non-teaching staff. Add to these a leadership that university is that several important posts, such as those of the
does not have the requisite blend of scholarship and administration pro-vice-chancellor, the registrar and the controller of examina
qualities and the recipe for disaster is complete. tion, which had been vacant for the last two years, have finally
The appointment of the present vice chancellor (vc) in 2010 been filled. However, the huge backlog in filling vacant posts of
was widely criticised as an act of political favouritism overlooking teaching and non-teaching staff remains.
his inadequate academic qualifications. However, the education If one example was needed to illustrate the all-time low to which
lobby in the state, dominated by powerful politicians (shikshan a university, once held in high regard, can fall, one has to look at
samrats or education emperors as they are known), has for long developments last year. Giving in to the demand of a 20-year-old
manipulated to place amenable appointees in this post. A vc aspiring politician, the vc banned a book (Rohinton Mistr/s
who is dependent on political-bureaucratic patronage is likely Such a Long Journey) which had been a part of the Bachelor of
to find that he/she has to contend with “recommendations” in Arts syllabus for years. The protests at this arbitrary ban were
filling significant posts. From here it is a short journey towards muted and weak, indicating the sway that local politics now has
the erosion of governance structures. But the patronage of politi on Mumbai’s intellectual life. This too is indicative of the growing
cians does not move on to planning for more funds for the insti irrelevance of the university to the city after which it is named.
tution, leading to the obvious neglect of higher education in the Unlike in the past, Mumbai University has long ceased to be a
state. The university’s record in teaching and research in the vibrant part of the city’s cultural and intellectual life. This is in
humanities has been abysmal as is evident in the steady decline of contrast to the great universities in many parts of the world.
students awarded PhD degrees. Its deteriorating image has had While the rot has gone deep and needs an overhaul, there are
the twin effect of keeping away talented faculty and students a number of measures that are an absolute must to save the
not only from the state but also from other parts of the country. Mumbai University. The removal of the stranglehold of political
The decline of the university began in the 1990s when an in patronage over the vc’s post will ensure that the university gets
creasing number of colleges seeking affiliation to it were allowed the leadership required and also that more significant posts
to introduce professional/vocational courses. As these were not lower down are held by people who can ensure academic excel
funded by the government, the colleges could charge higher fees lence. The Mumbai University’s 53 postgraduate departments,
for the courses. Although the university regulated the fees, it failed mainly the humanities, urgently need more attention and aca
to monitor the quality of education. As a result, the number of demic auditing. These steps could be the first towards making
students affiliated to the university increased dramatically as did Mumbai University the creator of the “intelligentsia and epoch-
the number of examinations that needed to be held. At present, making forces” that it was once credited to be.
FROM 50 YEARS AGO in an underdeveloped country, is an essen in pointing out that the major weaknesses
fhefewomicUMlg tial prerequisite for economic progress. Shri that have arisen in the economy have been at
K C Mahindra, who belongs to this group, those points at which the Government has
A Journal of Current economic and political Affair* expressed himself on the subject with com been directly involved - railway develop
mendable firmness in his address as Chairman ment, coal production and power generation.
VOL XIV, NO 17, APRIL 28, 1962
of Mahindra and Mahindra at the Annual It is clear that the planning technique has
WEEKLY NOTES General Meeting of the Company in Bombay been deficient and supervision over perform
this week...To support planning by the State ance too slack. It is becoming increasingly
Not Hidebound
is not, however, to argue that planning in this evident that the operational machinery of
Progressive businessmen in this country country is free from defects...One is justified, Government is not able to rise to the occasion
have been veering round to the view that therefore, in drawing attention to the grow to implement the gigantic task set to it by the
economic planning by the State, particularly ing lag between planning and achievement or planning organisation...
Economic & Political weekly BE29 April 28, 2012 vol xlvii no 17 9
This content downloaded from 192.190.180.53 on Tue, 06 Nov 2018 23:54:07 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
COMMENTARY
His and Hers up creating confusion, chaos and even
greater acrimony in divorce proceed
ings. Rather than rendering divorces
easy, it might result in achieving the
FLAVIA AGNES_____________________________________ exact opposite effect. The bill has led to
several erroneous presumptions. At one
At the centre of the controversy The central government’s decision level it is assumed that women’s groups
over the government’s proposal to to introduce amendments to mar are seeking the amendment that will
riage laws seems to have stirred make divorces easy and help women to
amend marriage laws are issues
up a hornets’ nest with every campaign walk out of marriages and “move on”.
related to situations when there
ing group expressing discontent or dis While doing so they can also walk out
is an irretrievable breakdown agreement with it. At the centre of the with half of the man’s hard-earned pro
of a marriage and to division of controversy are two issues: irretrievable perty. Put this way, the proposition
breakdown of a marriage and division of appears to be blatantly unjust to men.
property at the time of divorce.
property at the time of divorce. At the Here we must trace the history of this
The ambiguity and lack of
periphery are other issues like reducing amendment. In August 2010, the govern
transparency in the proposed the waiting period for mutual consent ment brought a bill to Parliament to in
amendment are hardly conducive divorce with the discretion of the judges troduce the provision of an irretrievable
and rights of adopted children to be on breakdown of marriage which was touted
to rendering a divorce easy in
par with biological children in custody as a “pro-women measure” which would
the event of a breakdown of a
battles. The last one is non-controversial do away with the need for “washing dirty
marriage and may have exactly and has never been a contentious issue linen in public” and set women free. But
the opposite effect. There are in matrimonial litigation. In fact, rights due to opposition to it by several wom
of adopted children are considered on en’s organisations it was referred to the
other allied questions regarding
par with rights of biological children on Joint Select Committee of Parliament.
the woman’s right to the
every issue, including property inherit The “men’s rights groups” who de
husband’s property as well as the ance. Reducing the waiting period in posed before the select committee urged
rights of women belonging to the divorces by mutual consent with the dis the government to carry out the amend
cretion of the presiding judge of the trial ment and also put forward a proposal
minorities. The government must
court (but not routinely) after ascertain that as soon as the divorce proceedings
address all these aspects before
ing that the consent of the parties is an are initiated, all criminal proceedings
enacting the amendment. informed consent will also not give rise pending under Section 498A of the Indian
to much controversy. Introducing the Penal Code should be quashed. Some
breakdown theory into our marriage even suggested by citing examples of
laws has been done on a case to case ba other countries in this regard, that the
sis by the higher courts. Through this period of separation should be reduced
amendment the trial courts would be from three years to three months. In this
given similar powers. Though slightly case as soon as a complaint of cruelty or
controversial, it fades into inconse dowry harassment is filed by the wife,
quence when compared to the govern the husband would be at liberty to file a
ment’s proposal to divide the husband’s petition for divorce on the ground that
property at the time of divorce. the marriage has broken down irretriev
ably and wriggle out of both civil and
Lack of Clarity criminal consequences in one stroke.
The amendment’s ambiguity and lack He could thus set himself free of any
of transparency is disturbing. Since the encumbrances and criminal liabilities,
bill has not been placed in the public leaving his wife and children high and
domain, opinions expressed on it, both dry as a punishment for her outrageous
by experts as well as lay people, appear decision to file a criminal complaint
to be mere hypothesis or knee-jerk reac against him and his family!
Flavia Agnes ([email protected]) is tions. A bill which hopes to bring in The concern of women’s groups was
a women’s rights lawyer and is with the changes of such magnitude as altering that if divorces are made easy, with no
Mumbai-based Majlis which provides legal property relationships would need far avenue of resisting it and protecting
help to women.
greater clarity. Otherwise, it would end women’s right to shelter (given to them
10 April 28, 2012 vol xlvii no 17 (BBSS Economic & Political weekly
This content downloaded from 192.190.180.53 on Tue, 06 Nov 2018 23:54:09 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
