Digital Commons Network^™

Informal Workers And Their Rights, Srijit Mishra

Srijit Mishra

The four fundamental principles and rights at work are intrinsic and with a pragmatic relevance that also find resonance in the Constitution of India through its Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles. Our interpretation through a Rawlsian prism also adds to our understanding of these four fundamental principles. An evaluation of the Indian context points out that more than 90 per cent of the workforce is informal workers and that the proportion of informal workers is also increasing in the organised sector. Further, our analysis indicates shortcomings in the four fundamental principles. Their freedom to organise is limited as most work …

Women's Inheritance Rights And Intergenerational Transmission Of Resources In India, Klaus Deininger, Aparajita Goyal, Hari Nagarajan

Aparajita Goyal

We use inheritance patterns over three generations of individuals to assess the impact of changes in the Hindu Succession Act that grant daughters equal coparcenary birth rights in joint family property that were denied to daughters in the past. We show that the amendment significantly increased daughters’ likelihood to inherit land, but that even after the amendment, substantial bias persists. Our results also indicate a robust increase in educational attainment of daughters, suggesting an alternative channel of wealth transfer.

Pak Nukes: Frenzy In Western Media (Cpc Journal, No.1025, Us Air Force, Alabama), Shams Uz Zaman Mr.

Mr. Shams uz Zaman

Focus on the reports published in the US media against Pakistani nuclear capability.

Something Is Better Than Nothing Enhancing The Protection Of Indian Migrant Workers Through Bilateral Agreements And Memoranda Of Understanding, Piyasiri Wickramasekara

PIYASIRI WICKRAMASEKARA

India’s has had an impressive record recently in negotiating bilateral Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) and Memoranda of Agreement (MOAs) on emigration of Indian workers, and social security agreements for Indian workers with a number of destination countries. The study undertakes a review of MOUs and MOAs on migration of Indian workers entered into by the Government of India with destination countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, Jordan and Malaysia. The findings however, have broader relevance in the context of similar MOUs by other Asian origin countries.

The study fails to find any concrete evidence that the MOUs and …

Access To Land: Some Issues, Srijit Mishra

Srijit Mishra

The paper, or rather note, is a brief review of some existing literature. It underscores the need for improved land access to the tiller from the point of view of both equity and efficiency. Some of the suggestions are: (i) opening up of the land lease market so that tenancy does not go underground (ii) in states like West Bengal where tenancy is protected, provision could be made to make them owners in part of the land while giving up claims for the rest, (iii) reduce transaction costs in land markets, which include fees but also bribes being paid, (iv) …

Nanotechnology In India: Inferring Links Between Emerging Technologies And Development, Thomas Woodson

Thomas Woodson

No abstract provided.

Pakistani Stance On Fmct - An Alternative Approach (Centreline), Shams Uz Zaman Mr.

Mr. Shams uz Zaman

It gives an alternative approach to Pakistan's policy on FMCT.

Samarthan’S Campaign To Improve Access To The National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme In India, Ramesh Awasthi, International Budget Partnership

International Budget Partnership

In India the implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), which guarantees a minimum of 100 days of unskilled work per year to every poor rural family that needs employment, has been ridden with bureaucratic glitches and widespread corruption. This case study examines a civil society campaign to address problems in the NREGA’s administration and mobilize people to demand work under the scheme.

The full version, short summary, and one page summary of this case study are available in English. Summaries are also available in Spanish, French, Arabic, and Chinese.

LINK: http://internationalbudget.org/publications/samarthan%E2%80%99s-campaign-to-improve-access-to-the-national-rural-employment-guarantee-scheme-in-india/

Post-Earthquake Housing Recovery In Bachhau, India: The Homeowner, The Renter, And The Squatter, Anuradha Mukherji

Anuradha Mukherji

This paper looks at post-earthquake housing recovery in Bachhau, a town close to the epicenter of the 2001 Gujarat earthquake in western India. This research examines the difference in housing recovery outcomes among homeowners, squatters, and renters in Bachhau, in order to understand why single-family homeowners and squatters were able to rebuild and improve their housing conditions whereas low-income renters continued to struggle toward housing recovery. This paper shows that communities in Bachhau did not have the resources or capacities to rebuild themselves and that appropriate public assistance was critical for housing recovery. While public assistance was mainly targeted to …

Information, Direct Access To Farmers, And Rural Market Performance In Central India, Aparajita Goyal

Aparajita Goyal

This paper estimates the impact of a change in procurement strategy of a private buyer in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Beginning in October 2000, Internet kiosks and warehouses were established that provide wholesale price information and an alternative marketing channel to soy farmers in the state. Using a new market-level dataset, the estimates suggest a significant increase in soy price after the introduction of kiosks, supporting the predictions of the theoretical model. Moreover, there is a robust increase in area under soy cultivation. The results point toward an improvement in the functioning of rural agricultural markets. (JEL …

Of The,By The,For The People; Where Do We Stand?, Savad Rahman

savad rahman

No abstract provided.

Trivialising Justice: Reservation Under The Rule Of Law, Ashok Agrwaal

Ashok Agrwaal

The idea for the paper was born out of a consultation called by the Calcutta Research Group (CRG), on critically engaging with the issue of social justice in India. The discussions ranged over a broad spectrum, from the gritty essence of social justice issues in daily life, to theoretical constructs based upon accepted cannons, to the notion of examining the matter afresh, from first principles. After several false starts, I realised that I was allowing the vastness of the issue to overwhelm me. Finally, I decided to choose a theme and strictly adhere to the limitations imposed by my choice. …

Negotiating Housing Recovery In Post-Earthquake Urban Kutch, India, Anuradha Mukherji

Anuradha Mukherji

The 2001 Kutch earthquake, in Gujarat state in western India, destroyed 230,000 houses and damaged another 1 million. In Bhuj and Bachhau, urban centers close to the epicenter of the earthquake, single-family houses, squatter settlements, and high-rise apartments were destroyed, and public and private housing reconstruction programs were introduced to help communities rebuild their houses. However, five years after the disaster, in spite of interventions by local and global, public and private entities, many communities in both towns continued to struggle towards housing recovery. This dissertation examines why some communities were able to rebuild and improve their overall housing conditions …

Law's Autonomy, Ashok Agrwaal

Ashok Agrwaal

Like entropy, autonomy exists. As such, the existence of autonomy does not need any law or laws, beyond itself and its nature. Autonomy can, therefore, be said to be an "original" state of human kind; or at least of the individual. Law, which is frequently seen as preserving/ maximising/ conferring autonomy is actually a device to usurp autonomy. The paper looks at a specific example of how the nation-state, the most powerful usurper of autonomies created till date, arrogates autonomy to itself, in the name of ‘public interest’. Needless to say, in the hands of the state, autonomy translates into …

The Two Faces Of Intercountry Adoption: The Significance Of The Indian Adoption Scandals, David M. Smolin

David M. Smolin

This article summarizes international law, and the law of India and the United States, relevant to intercountry adoption. The article then presents extensive information and analysis of a major series of adoption scandals in Andhra Pradesh, India. The article uses this analysis of law and a major series of adoption scandals to present the "two sides of intercountry adoption:" positively, as a humanitarian act, and negatively as a form of child trafficking. The weaknesses and vulnerabilities of the intercountry adoption system that led to the Indian adoption scandals are extensively analyzed.

Bandipora Redux: A Tale From Two Insurgencies, Ashok Agrwaal

Ashok Agrwaal

This artixcle is based upon my work on State impunity in the context of the guaranteed right to life, in Punjab and Kashmir. The Indian state has fought insurgencies almost throughout its independent history: from Nagaland to Punjab, Andhra Pradesh to Kashmir, from the early 1950s to date. Among the many different kinds of human rights violations that the Indian security forces have been charged with, is the recurring charge that they force local people to act as 'human shields' \with a view to minimising uniformed casualties. These reports have been denied by the authorities who routinely provide other reasons, …