Summary
Contents
This collection analyzes and assesses the complexities of contemporary India's socio-economic reality from multiple perspectives. The contributors comprise eminent thinkers and grassroot activists from diverse fields like the judiciary, social development, environment, education, contemporary science, and art. Unlike the bulk of available literature on emerging India, which focuses mainly on the positives, these articles posit contrary views, necessary for a balanced, objective understanding of the issues.
The Other India: Realities of an Emerging Power talks of an India far removed from the India of glass and steel high-rises and air-conditioned schools; glistening malls and multiplexes; and fashion shows, Bollywood, and T20 cricket. It explores issues like the role of spirituality in social justice, conflicts associated with false religious identities including terrorism, the dangers of mindless destruction of nature and the consequent disempowerment of people dependent upon it, and so on. In this volume, dispassionate analysis of history and contemporary forces alternate with straight-from-the-heart narratives of grassroot activists. Candid despair shares space with encouraging stories of collective action bringing about real change.
This book will hold tremendous appeal for the general reader and will also be useful for academics and thinkers working in the fields of sociology, environment, education, human rights, law and justice, development issues, and politics.
The Human Price of Flawed Development
The Human Price of Flawed Development
When I accompanied Agnivesh to the distinguished lawyer Gobind Mukhoty in order to request him to take up the Asian Games Village case in 1982, Mukhoty surprised me by asking Agnivesh where he had disappeared from being his colleague in the St Xavier's College in Kolkata. I learnt then that the sanyasi with me was once a teacher in a prestigious academic institution. As many know, that case made the Supreme Court observe that all employment where minimum wages were not being paid was to be regarded as forced labor and violated the Fundamental Rights of a citizen. Thereafter, Agnivesh plunged headlong in liberating and rehabilitating the bonded laborers. Before that, he had served ...