When society gives big mandates to parties and social standpoints, it also expects magnanimity and inclusiveness in the same measure. I want to list some of the reforms that are crying for implementation in the larger institutional interest of an inclusive society. For a long time, we have been trying to universalise the benefits of food security,…
Shall we talk about water in every home? Several parts of the southern and western country are going through a severe water crisis due to repeated failure of rains. The water shortage is felt not kust rural areas but also in poorer parts of cities as well.…
How do we reshape electoral discourse: can we go beyond caste and communal agenda The election commission had to first time issue an advisory to all political parties to shun use of basal identities for invoking participation of people in the festival of democracy that is election. Why has discourse in the biggest democracy…
The increasing role of social media, alternative online news channels and individual blogs in shaping public opinion has generated new paradoxical challenges before institution builders. Younger generation is all the more impatient with in-depth analysis. The twitter generation is making new demands on the process of institution building. In any society, the existing…
Every time there is a tragedy, the parliament discusses the issue and then business resumes as usual. I hope things will change this time. Not because in the presence of thousands of people, a farmer was allowed to commit suicide. But because the conditions which lead some farmers to take extreme step have their…
Politics of sugar, subsidiarity principle and whither innovation Many social segments of the country are feeling that their voice is perhaps not being heard adequately. This could also be a consequence of lack of clarity about the major policy shifts. In some areas, we are continuing with the same policies even if change…
Discourse, democracy and debate: Are we getting what we deserve? The popular adage is that people get the government they deserve. I am not sure that the current tenor of the electoral discourse is either dignified or graceful. We surely deserve better. If there was a debate on the quality of education in government and…
SRISTI SRISTI (Society for Research and Initiatives for Sustainable Technologies and Institutions www.sristi.org), which means creation, was born in 1993, essentially to support the activities of the Honey Bee Network to recognize, respect and reward creativity at the grassroots. The objectives were: systematic documentation, dissemination of, and value addition in grassroots green innovations, providing them…
Part two: Ten policies that must change soon-the case of education In this season of manifestos, I am sharing my own agenda, which is actually not my own in the true sense. It belongs to all those who wish to see a significant change in Indian polity that empowers unsung performers and those who wish…
My manifesto: not that it matters………… vyakti ( individual), vichar ( idea), vyavahar ( practice) and sanskar (embedded values). The Dissent lies at the heart of democracy: great leaders are judged by the extent to which they brook diversity of views and then try to recognize the value of climbing ladder: vyakti ( individual), vichar…