The images of Australian bush fire is still fresh in people’s minds across the world. The tragedy led to a loss of insurmountable flora and fauna. Over 30,000 forest fires were recorded last year in India itself, and most of these forest fires account to human activity. It’s a strange reality where several conventions have taken place from the 1970s, beginning with United Nations conference on the human environment, often known as Stockholm conference, it was for the first time that the world began to take a serious interest in environmental issues at large, however, even after 50 years of the first initiate in the form of Stockholm conference our world is battling with shifts in weather patterns driven by humans since the industrial revolution. Let’s take a look to understand what causes forest fires. 

What causes forest fires?

Forest fire is the most common source of potential damage or hazard to Forests all over the world. They threaten not only the forest but the ecosystem that exists in it they are capable of destroying the balance that exists in the ecology of the forest ( flora and fauna). The gradual deterioration of functional characteristics of leaves due to no rains in summers often leads to flames which are caused by the slightest sparks The Himalayan forests, particularly, Garhwal Himalayas are burning regularly during a previous couple of summers, with colossal loss of vegetation cover of that region.

Do forest fires have only natural causes?

There are both man-made and natural reasons as to why the forests are burning around the world during recent times. Natural reasons vary from lightning which sets trees on fires to high atmospheric temperatures and dryness with less or no humidity which lead to favourable circumstances of forest fires. Main reasons range from cigarettes, bidi, lighter or any such item coming in contact with any inflammable material which may be present in the ecosystem. Forest fires increase CO2 levels within the atmosphere, contributing to the atmospheric phenomenon and global climate change. Besides, ashes destroy much of the nutrients and erode the soil, causing flooding and landslides. We can say that causes of forest fires could either be environmental which is beyond our control and human-related which can be controlled or contained. The causes of man-made forest fires are usually – The main causes of man-made forest fires include the following:

1) Agricultural activities like burning grass or stubble.

2) Throwing of burning cigarettes or matches.

3) The lighting of fires in restricted areas.

4) Residential activities like the use of electrical tools that cause sparks and burn of wastes.

5) Short-circuit of power lines passing through forests, among others. 

But how do we prevent forest fires?

Forest fires as we discussed are both dangerous and threatening to both us and the wildlife around us. We live in equilibrium with the wildlife in this world our mere existence is supported by the pillars of the ecosystem that we are a part of so preventing things such as forest fires that threaten the destruction to both flora fauna is our duty. One of the easy ways in which we can prevent it is by complying with the rules and regulations that exist to safeguard our forests Many municipalities have laws governing burning of all kinds including the time of day, time of year, and what substances can be burned, by following these rules we can reduce man-made fires also if we are on a camping trip we can check the weather it is never a good idea to engage in any type of burning if there are high winds. Wind can act as both an accelerant and may spread the hearth. Smoking in the woods may be appealing to the larger section of our society that favours camping trips but we should keep in mind that we have to carefully extinguish any smoking materials that are on us. We must not burn dangerous things like aerosol cans, pressurised containers, glass or aluminium cans, as they could explode, shatter and/or create harmful fumes or dust. Wildfire prevention techniques are often difficult when most of the people do not realise the harm involved. Fireworks and crackers should also never be used unless there is a wide-open space with no flammable materials nearby. Also, ask your local ordinances as many restrict fireworks altogether. We must also follow state laws and city ordinances regarding backyard burn disposal, remove any potentially hazardous material from the surrounding area of your burn before you get started and set up a non-flammable parameter the same way you would with a campfire.

Conclusion 

We are at a turning point in our century, we cannot afford to see our ecosystem get destroyed by anthropogenic causes, what we need to do is, focus on is sustainable development that does not take away the resources of the future generations, we must keep the upkeep of our ecosystem as our top priority and work together as a community and to look after our forests, we must educate our children about the benefits of forests and wildlife and the role it plays to maintain our ecological cycle. At the end of the day, the world is a global village and we cannot look away from it. 

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Status Of Pending Cases In The Country

As a child we often heard our family members, close relatives and neighbours complain of how tedious it is to seek justice in the Indian judicial system. As a citizen of a democratic country it is not only our right but a sacrosanct duty on behalf of the judicial system to ensure to the citizens’ justice at all costs, however sometimes cases take years and often decades to come to its conclusion and this is when the layman begins to lose hope in the judiciary. The problem especially increases for those who have abysmal knowledge of how the justice system work, lack of justice sensitisation and the available avenues like free legal aid as enshrined in our constitution under article 39A of Directive principles of state policy directs the executive to make available all provinces necessary to achieve the reality. Despite the available avenues and government intervention as of  September 2019, there is over 3.5 crore pending cases across Supreme Court, High court and the subordinate courts. Out of the 3.5 crore cases, approximately 87% account for subordinate court cases, followed by 12.5% pendency before the 24 High courts and the remaining in Supreme Court. These figures are staggering, and shocking to say the least. 

Why is the Indian Justice System Slow?

Among many reasons that slow the road to justice is Low judge strength and appointment. The approved number of judges in the High court in India stands at 1076 out of which 680 is the working strength. The vacancy is around 399 according to the data given above. The Allahabad high court has the maximum number of judges at 160 out of which 53 posts are vacant. In the present scenario, India has around 19 judges for every 10 Lakh people. One of the reasons mentioned by law minister Dr Ravi Shankar Prasad for a high vacancy is the inordinate delay in filling up the vacancies of judicial offices. If the present government wishes to solve the problem of pendency of cases it needs to ensure speedy recruitment of justices in High court and lower courts. 

An Extremely Slow Process of Law

The staggering number of 3.3 crore pending cases is a blot on the Indian judicial system. A particular case has multiple hearings and several adjournments, in the process, the culprit often roams free with no fear of the law. This creates a lack of faith in the laymen and women. However, in this regard, the Supreme Court should ensure that a time limit is given to high courts and subordinate courts in which they have to get done with the case. It is the need of the hour that the honourable Supreme court presents guidelines to dispose of cases at the earliest without compromising on justice.

Lack of Infrastructure 

In today’s day and age, it is imperative to ensure the needed infrastructure to provide speedy assistance to those who need help. There are several systemic issues like the inadequate staff and IT infrastructure, undue delay in getting reports from the understaffed forensic science laboratories, lack of victim support services and lack of victim/witness protection measures, frivolous adjournments are some of the common issues that have plagued the Indian justice system. What needs to be done is speedy infrastructural changes like the use of computers to admit the cases, computerisation to update the status of the cases the courts, filing of cases through the online platform, among others is the way to go. Now we will look at ways to resolve the problem ahead of the judiciary and citizens at large.

Speedy Recruitment 

The need of the hour is for the judiciary to fill its vacancies. For this, supreme courts must provide guidelines to the lower courts to fill the vacancies in a stipulated and time-bound manner. For example, young lawyers from hundreds of law colleges and universities must write a common judicial test after which they will be recruited in state district courts and alternate dispute resolution mechanisms like tribunals, after they’re recruited they can continue their practice so it doesn’t take too many years of hardship where they find hard to get themselves a steady job. 

Seminars and Workshops 

The world is constantly changing, and so is the justice system across the world. There are two ways to learn, one, by personal experience, as and when am advocate is confronted with the case and second, by learning from examples. There is no harm in learning by practice, however, the senior judges in lower and high courts must train those who have joined Indian judiciary through seminars and workshops. They must discuss the issues faces by young advocates and students who aspire to enter Indian judiciary and make a difference with their passion for justice. This will not only encourage young aspirants to join judiciary but also train young minds to face challenges as and when they appear in their professional careers. 

Need for Alternate Dispute Resolution Mechanism

Before we try and understand how ADR will help in speedy disposal of cases, let us understand what does alternate dispute resolution means, ADR refers to methods of mediation or arbitration to resolve disputes without the use of litigation. In the process, both the parties decide to employ the method of mediation to resolve the issue along with a third party who listens to the argument and presents a way to resolve the dispute without knocking the doors of courts. As we know that about 50% cases in India are civil, mostly compoundable, it is a wonderful way to provide justice in a time-bound manner without filing a case in courts and simply increasing the number of cases. 

What’s the Way Forward?

Indian constitution is the largest in the world, it has the most articles and deals with the most significant aspects of social, economic and political justice. It not only acts as a bible to those who take the task to provide justice to the citizen of this country but also enables the growth of a fertile mind. It aids liberty of the mind and soul, assists the sustenance of life-breath of the country’s growth and fulfils the aspirations of those who seek to take part in nation-building. Tall words, isn’t it? But the power of the judiciary is not to be taken lightly, it has the potential to uplift the flag of justice whenever a young woman like Kamala loses her life to gender-based violence, it uplifts the values on those minds that built this nation brick by brick. Hence, the way forward will be to educate the young about the true value of justice and what it means to be free, the civil society needs to be aware of its right to alternate dispute resolution, the poor must be provided with free legal aid to provide them with an equal ground to seek justice and the judiciary needs to buckle its shoes to make sure they surrender to those they promised to provide justice. 

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Origin Of Manual Scavenging In India

The origin of manual scavenging in India goes back a few centuries. Its roots lie in the birth-based occupation structure wherein sub-castes within Dalits were forced to live a life of degradation. The system became more concrete after the coming of the Mughals, Mughal women under purdah system had in closed toilets that needed to be scavenged, later modern flush toilets came to the forefront with the advent of the East India Company, but by this time, it was too late to go to give up the old ways. By now, most houses that adopted outhouses or dry latrines that required to be scavenged. Manual scavengers are known by different names in different regions, often called Phakis in Andra Pradesh, Bhangis in Uttar Pradesh, Balmiki in Haryana among others. However, while they’re called by different names in varied areas, their identity remains blurred for most of the world. 

Life Of A Manual Scavenger

Work-life of a manual scavenger is demeaning and Inhumane. Most often they jump inside the drains without any equipment and the stench is unbearable. Lack of technical intervention makes the lives of those involved in this inhumane occupation a hardship. Human faeces and urine are carriers of Hepatitis A, Rotavirus, and E.coli exposing the workers to cholera, typhoid, hepatitis, tuberculosis, and a range of other diseases. This makes their life a heavy pill to swallow as they face multiple atrocities, in the hands of the general public where the perception revolves around untouchability, perversion and pollution. Their occupation is deeply attached to their caste, it is only the sub-castes among the Dalits who are occupied in the process. Those involved in manual scavenging hardly get a reasonable income, ranging from Rs. 50 to Rs 100, after cleaning about 40-50 toilets is less than the bare minimum. Without any safety net to fall back to, the occupation brings misery from all quarters.

Death Of Manual Scavengers

The practice is driven by caste, class and income divide and the cornerstone of untouchability in the country. The number of those who died in septic tanks has multiplied in the past years, in the year 2019, around 110 people lost their lives in the tanks. This is a 61% increase from 2018 data available to us. Most of those who die in septic tanks die of toxic fumes and asphyxiation. Even though the government promises a compensation of 10 lake rupees, it is imperative that in several cases there has been no compensation in the hands of those who lose their kin. 

Government Intervention

The Protection of Civil Rights Act, known as Untouchability (Offences) Act, 1955, The  Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, remains the earliest legislation that made the practice of untouchability a cognizable and non-compoundable offence. The Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993, prohibited the construction of dry latrines and employment of manual scavengers but the reality is, that the menace continues. Due to lack of technical intervention by the state, the burden on manual scavengers remains unchallenged, even though the act is non-bailable, those involved in manual scavenging come from a deeply marginalised stratum of society where they find it difficult to fight legal battles. Lack of awareness with respect to rights is another issue. In the current light of events, it becomes ever more important to empower those who find it hard to empower themselves. 

Abolition of Social Stigma

Any social stigma is hard to overcome in a day, month or a few years. It takes a multi-pronged approach to overcome biases that plague any given society. Gandhi Ji once said, “My fight against untouchability is a fight against the impure in society” in his words it is evident that untouchability persisted for decades in Indian society and hence it becomes even more important for the present generation to take stringent steps to permanently eradicate the menace of manual scavenging and the taboos attached to those who engage in the occupation. The larger question is, what can we do as civil society? What is in our hand? What’s in our hand is the boon of technology, technology has connected the world ever more in the last few years, we can use the medium of social media to bring forward the issues of those whose lives have been under great stress for centuries altogether. Dialogue is the first step to any change, we need to educate our children about the ills of our society and inculcate common empathy and respect for individuals regardless of their social status. Schools need to inculcate coursework that helps them appreciate their surroundings and the people who contribute to that very society. Over the time, we as a society might’ve accustomed to the changing ways but as long as people around us live a life of degradation none of us is truly independent even though we’ve entered the 75^th year of independence.

Way Ahead 

Technical interventions to replace manual scavenging is the need of the hour. For instance, the Water Supply and Sewage Board of Hyderabad is currently using mini jetting machines to clean choked water pipes in the narrow alleys. Whereas in Kerala, engineers designed robots that can clean septic tanks. Further, the use of anaerobic bacteria to treat human excreta has been explored but research on it needs more funding. Apart from the use of technology, there is a need for an overhaul holistic approach towards designing rehabilitation schemes, keeping women in mind to make sure they have alternate sources of employment. The best way forward would be to converge existing government employment schemes, such as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA), 2005 with PEMSR Act 2013. It is a sensible option for the liberation of scavengers to be guaranteed employment for at least 100 days in a year. Continuous audit of the steps taken

in accordance is another step in the right direction, social sector schemes specifically for the rehabilitation of manual scavengers is the way to go, otherwise one size fit approach hardly gives any dividends, scholarships for young children of manual scavengers and provision to complete schooling to those who dropped out of school early in life is required to not only rehabilitate scavengers but also to ensure that this liberation is lasting in nature. 

At this note we must work towards realising the words of Dr Ambedkar, he once said –

“Unlike a drop of water that loses its identity when it joins the ocean, man does not lose his being on the society in which he lives. Man’s life is independent. He is born not for the development of the society alone, but the development of his self”

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The art and handicrafts sector is the second largest employment generator after agriculture. According to the 2011 Census, there are over 68 lakh artisans in the country, of which 55 per cent of them are women.

A Tradition Since and For Ages 

India, among other things, is known for her soft power. This soft power stems from our very own civilisation, the Indus. The Indus Valley civilisation is witness to a diverse variety of artisanship. Ancient cities of Chanhudaro (present-day Pakistan), Kalibangan, famous for bangle making (Present-day Rajasthan ) among others were famous for crafts ranging from bead, bangle, pot and seal making. Produce from Indus Valley was exported to far lands of Afghanistan, Oman, Mesopotamia, and this brought in gold and silver in a fairly good amount to the Indus. When we use the word ‘Indian’ before artisanship, we refer to the tradition of thousands of years, we refer to Bandhej from Rajasthan, Pashmina shawls from Kashmir, wooden toys from Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Punjab, pottery from Uttar Pradesh in orange, brown and dark red to black and dark red in Himachal Pradesh (owning to its heritage to Indus Valley ). The blue pottery of  Jaipur adorns our rooms till date but the larger question is, despite India’s roots submerged in artisanship for ages, why do our artisans not receive the credit they deserve? Why do they live a life of penury? We will look at the reasons why. 

A Change in the Attitude of Buyers Post Globalisation

With the age of globalisation, the world is moving at an ever speedy pace. Most of us have secluded ourselves to the urban-mall-going fancies of life, not that it is wrong but it is an attitudinal problem where we refrain to stop our vehicle for a few minutes to acknowledge the products made by an artisan standing at a stall all day for a few hundred rupees. The same middle and upper-middle-class do not refrain to buy the same product at a much higher price in an expensive shopping complex. This move is not just that of convenience, rather it is important to ask the question, why was there an artisan, a craftsman standing on the street in the first place? If they had a choice, would they still sell their craft on the streets?

Competition with Machine-Made Goods

Companies solely work for profit-making and this zest for profit-making has put many artisans out of work. It takes hours to make a pot or put beads in a zardozi saree on the contrary, machine-made fabric is easier to make, considering, the same fabric is manufactured in thousands of pieces in a single day. The gap between machine made and hand made goods is hard to bridge, but with measures like save our artisans’ campaign, putting active pressure on famous clothing brands to employ to fulfil their corporate sector responsibility (CSR) in promoting rural artisans and creating social media presence for artisans to sell their produce depending on the changing taste and preference for the consumers might just help bridge the gap. 

Lack of Incentives for the Youth 

Most artisans believe that the current generation is uninterested in handicraft due to lack of recognition and monitory value, Easier alternatives, strenuous work hours, etc. Most artisans are found reluctant to have their children follow their steps as they don’t believe there’s a  bright future in the line of artisanship. With an increase in the educational base, the unwillingness to work in a line of uncertainty increases. This may be one of the very serious challenges to the present-day state of artisans.

Infrastructural Bottlenecks

Most artisans are on the belief that lack of infrastructural facilities retard the growth of the handicraft industry and the same number of respondents have to face grumble from the customers concerning the quality and durability of handcrafted products. The types of equipment used to make the products are mostly outdated and time-consuming, this not only limits the number of products an artisan can make in a day but also impacts the quality of the product made. 

Change in Taste and Preferences of Consumers 

We must note here that change is the law of nature and today’s generation is fast changing. Hence, only those who can accept change with time can survive in today’s day and age. Thus, artisans must be trained to deliver quality products that after the demands of today’s market. Now we will discuss the steps taken to uplift artisans in the country. 

Handicrafts constitute a huge part of the unorganised sector. They’ve sustained through globalisation and continue to be in demand in the foreign market. However, the artisan who works in his/her/their vicinity or it migrates to another city, hardly gets enough to sustain their livelihood. Women constitute 55% of the workforce who largely remain aloof from the organised sector drowned under the burden of dual responsibility, one at home and the other without any social security. To solve this issue, several steps are taken. Some of them are as follows-

Research and Development Scheme 

 The scheme is formulated based on evaluation and research conducted by the governmental, research and developmental team. The following initiative was introduced to receive feedback on economic, social and promotional aspects of various crafts and artisans in the sector. Surveys are conducted on certain specific crafts on which there is no substantial information available, regarding problems to availability of raw materials, technology, and more.

Marketing Support and Assistance to Artisans 

Under this scheme marketing support is provided to artisans to help them participate in melas and marketing events in India and abroad, buyer-seller meets are organised to help the artisan get the link needed to showcase the talent. Financial assistance is further provided to hep participate in marketing events in foreign lands, cultural exchange programs during craft exposure programs. The purpose of the initiative is to form a link between an artisan at home to the global market and provide the financial assistance required to fulfil the desired goal. 

Ambedkar Hastshilp Vikas Yojana (AHVY)

The programme mainly focuses on community empowerment. Under the scheme, artisans are motivated to join Self-help groups (SHG’s). After this, the implementing agency will be responsible for further assistance and reform required for the same. A 25-day workshop is the highlight of Ambedkar hastshilp Vikas Yojana. In the workshop, artisans will be provided with training to create new prototypes to suit the changing taste and preference of the consumers, this will make artisans reach bigger markets at home and abroad. However, the larger question is what more needs to be done to uplift artisans from the life of penury?

• The most important aspects of inclusive development is social security, the government must ensure social security by the Ministry of Rural Development. The ministry needs to ensure that there are enough subsistence facilities available to the artisans on the ground and for their families.
• Estimation of raw material requirement, over 32 major craft categories use diverse types of raw materials. While most of the natural resource-based raw materials are locally available, over the years the reserves have been depleting largely due to lack of sustainable utilisation. To overcome the issue of cost competitiveness it is important to undertake bulk procurement through raw material bank scheme under AHVY. 
• We need to study the characteristics of the kind of loans demanded by artisans and provide for them accordingly. According to a report of NITI Aayog, most artisans require short term loans, mostly ranging for 1 to 6 months, credit requirement per artisan amounts to Rs. 0.15 lakhs, the need of the hour is easy credit, regional rural banks, cooperative banks and post office banks must ensure easy credit at customary rates to the customers so that artisans don’t have to depend on money lenders and fall in the debt trap.  
• Use of social media and NGO’s, social media provides a platform to every artist. If you have a talent, and you can showcase it to the world through social media and earn both respect and income. NGO’s in this regard must provide the necessary knowledge of social media once the digital divide is dismantled. With over 560 million internet users in the country, we are slowly but getting on the other side of the digital divide and there’s no better way to instantly become closer to a world that is appreciative of your craft and at the same time ensures you steady income. 
• Attitudinal change is extremely important. We often associate occupations with certain castes and attach prejudices with it. This not only hampers our overall development as informed individuals but also attaches a stigma concerning occupations. This attitudinal change will only come when schools and colleges sensitise young students on issues of caste prejudices, gender typing of roles among others. The emphasis on vocational studies cannot be emphasised further, students must be encouraged to learn at least one craft in their school lives, this will not only help them become in the touch of their creative side but also prepare them for a world where academic excellence is equally valued to craft. 

One must remember words of Leo Tolstoy,

“Art is not a handicraft it is a transmission of feeling the life has experienced” 

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  “I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own”

This is 2020 and a 12-year-old Meera peeps outside her window for hours day after another. She sat through the morning sun and waited for the moon to set in and oh! She sighed as the autumn leaves fell on her window as she flipped through the pages of a book of Bengali poems, yesterday it was ‘Abhilash’ by Rabindranath Tagore and today it was ‘The fruit of the tree of knowledge’ by Kamini Roy. She wrote, “ The Male desire to rule is the primary, if not the only, stumbling block to women’s enlightenment. They are extremely suspicious of women’s emancipation. Why? The same old fear- the lest they become like us”

Meera thought to herself, what is enlightenment?

Women of Yesterday 

Enlightenment in 16^th-century Europe was one of many outcomes of 30 years war from 1618 to 1648, as a result, many authors like Hugo and John Comenius went ahead against tradition to question some of the most rational questions of time. However, there’s not much reference to the role of women in the period of enlightenment. The status of women during the period of enlightenment is highly debated in academia and many of their works remain rather unpublished to date, which makes it difficult to understand 16^th century Europe from the eyes of a woman. Enlightenment brought with itself ideals of tolerance, liberty and progress, but these ideals remained rather secluded to middle and upper-class women who were able to discuss issues like politics, equality and sexuality in salons, coffee houses and debating societies. Among enlightened philosophers was John Locke who believed that the notion of male superiority was created by men and on the contrary Rousseau believed that women were subordinate to men and women must obey men. It is surprising to note such contrasting belief systems, that also highlight the fact that maybe, we’ve come far from where we were centuries ago but often we see more of Rousseau than Locke even in 21^st century. 

Tracing The Legacy Of Women Issues In Mid-19th Century India

Modern Europe saw the rise of some of the most renowned feminists, however, we see flashes of feminism in India primarily beginning from the mid-19^th century, this was the time of reform movement centred around Indian freedom struggle when social reformers like Savitribai Phule, Kamini Roy, Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Behramji Malabari among others talked of issues surrounding rights of women and social injustice. There was much hue and cry over the abolition of Sati but reformers like Ram Mohan Roy held their ground and even went ahead and said that “Sati was murder according to every shastra”.Issues like age of consent were debated in middle and upper-middle-class quarters, but such regulations did not reach the masses, it is astonishing to know that the practice of child marriage and crime against minor girls and children are on a rise even after over a hundred years of increasing the age of consent. Where did we go wrong? Before we try and analyse the answer let us look at some revolutionary women who changed the course of history for all women.

Mary Wollstonecraft 

Late 18^th century saw the first feminist philosopher in history, Mary Wollstonecraft, she was among the first women to openly publish under her name, she is widely known for the book, A vindication of the rights of women, it was a philosophical text for the education of women. She famously said “I do not wish women to have power over men; but over themselves” what she meant by this was that seeking the rights for women does not in any regard mean taking away rights of men, the essential purpose of all rights of women is not to control men, rather have the right over herself, her soul, her being, the very right that women over the world are still fighting for. For years altogether she wrote about how systematic patriarchy blinds women in the garb of obedience and how important it is for a woman to be strengthening their minds to become rational human beings. 

Kamini Roy 

Kamini Roy was born at a time when national freedom struggle was gaining ground but there was rather a lack of women participation in public life, born in a small village in present-day Bangladesh, Roy spearheaded the suffragette movement in India, after a long struggle, the Bengal legislative granted limited suffragette to women in 1925, she was among the first girls to attend school in British India. As a young woman she enjoyed writing and poetry, she quotes  “why should a woman be confined to the home and denied her rightful place in society?”  This was a revolutionary message for the time as it portrayed the zeal within young women who actively wished to participate in public life, who wanted nothing less than emancipation. 

20th-Century Position Of Women

20^th century was a period of decolonisation and formation of national boundaries. Ideas of sovereignty, republic, democracy were gaining ground, but rights of women remained at the periphery of nation-building. Hence, it is not surprising to know that most countries over the world, more or less, have ensured political rights but despite that remain the second gender, in the light of growing crimes against women it is natural to remember words said by Dr Ambedkar, he said “ political rights mean nothing in the absence of socio-economic rights” perhaps what he meant this was that political rights will only take an individual so far but real emancipation comes from social and economic rights. The example of this can very well be understood in the context of India. Even after over 70 years of independence women membership in the lower house remains at 12%, whereas Rwanda, a small country in Africa has 62% of women representatives. We will now look at how Rwanda achieved these feet.  

Women of Impact – Rwanda 

It is imperative to ignore how a small country like Rwanda can increase its women participation in a world where three nations; Micronesia, Papua New Guinea, and Vanuatu have no women in their central legislation. A country like the U.S; the world biggest superpower has just 23% representation of women in the lower house. Whereas countries where there have been improvements in numbers of female legislators, they have had a long history of women’s inclusion in public life. One of the reasons for the high number of women legislators is rooted in the re-constitution of the Rwandan constitution post-genocide in 2003. The new constitution allowed leaders to include progressive measures like gender equality, mandating a minimum 30% quota for women in parliament. It is now documented that countries where there is a significant reservation of seats for women in parliament, there has been a jump in numbers, Nepal has 33% quota whereas Djibouti has over 15% women parliamentarians. Another reason for a growing women representation lies in the fact that Rwanda has a proportional electoral system where a percentage of government seats held by a party is roughly equal to the percentage of voters who support the party. Women’s caucus in Rwanda developed a strategy to increase participation of women, they had veteran lawmakers run for open seats whereas reserved seats were ushered by newcomers. The passing of the anti-violence legislation is among one of their biggest achievements. 

Status of Women in the 21^st Century 

Women form almost 50% of the world population, any significant growth cannot be realised without the participation of women as a global citizen but before we focus on that, the world needs to give the status of a human being to a woman. The moment women are considered human beings and not just a commodity, probably half the race will be won. The other has to be won by working on multiple levels, ranging from strong legislation for crimes towards women to gender sensitisation in primary, secondary and high schools. The concept of consent is gaining ground and ever more important, especially in a world where most crimes against women are committed by a known entity. This only strengthens the notion that sensitisation at school might be the first step in the right direction but there has to be ensured gender sensitisation of parents right after the birth of a child. State and non-state actors, media, celebrities across the world and people like us who are part of society must do our bit in ensuring that women are given their due status in society not because they are women but rather because they are human beings. 

What Will The Woman Of Tomorrow Want?

For every 1000 baby boys, we have 940 girls. For starters, women of tomorrow must want to bridge this ratio. Women of tomorrow will want to not only be born and be granted the rights that already exist for them but also occupy more and more public spaces, women of tomorrow will want to be writers, a politician, scientist, musician, painter, journalist, a homemaker, teacher, work in an MNC but all by her choice, and not by compulsion. She will want to occupy not just public space but also live a life without the fear of harassment, she will want to take a sanitary napkin to the washroom without the fear of a male guardian knowing that she is on her period. Women of tomorrow will always be like the woman of today and yesterday, their demands might change over time but at the heart of it, she just wants to live a life of dignity, she only wishes to a life she chose for herself. 

As for Meera, let’s just hope she gains the true meaning of enlightenment in a few years, and let us make sure it remains only a few. 

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We’ve heard the word superpower in different contexts over media and academia, the word, superpower for most children across the world would mean an exceptional or extraordinary power or ability, mostly in the form of superman or superwoman, a fictional character that possesses the power to make a significant impact on the world, while keeping the very crux of the word alive, we will talk about a very specific nation, India, and its journey to be a superpower. However, we need to go back to the century that went by to understand how the idea of a superpower came about. 

The rise and fall of two superpowers 

Until the 20^th century, the world knew only two superpowers, USA and the Soviet Union, the landmark emergence of two world superpowers stems from the end of  World War II marked by the bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the USA, critics over the world suggest that the US knew that Japan was about to surrender and that it was Unnecessary to bomb the two Japanese ports. However, the USA went ahead with its decision to stop the Soviet Union from making any military and political gains in Asia and prove that America is supreme. The end of World War II led to every newly decolonised country had two options in front of it, either be friends with the US or Soviet Union. At this time, countries in Asia and Africa had got independence and most of these countries wanted to claim their sovereignty and didn’t wish to side with either of two power blocks. One would say it was the emergence of Non-aligned movement (NAM) as India’s bid to stay non aligned that can be seen as a sign of non-adherence to power systems.

India’s economic policy from 1951-1991

India’s economy at the dawn of independence was in distress. For over 200 years, India served the purpose for the good of the United Kingdom, the good that was bought on the ruins of India’s economic tradition. Post-independence, one of the major questions in the mind of policymakers was if India’s growth should be agriculture or industry-led and we went ahead with industry-led growth primarily because there was almost no presence of infrastructure sector, i.e, power, transportation and communication, there was the negligible presence of the infrastructure industries like iron and steel, cement, coal, crude oil, oil refining and electricity, lack of skilled manpower, absence of a market of industrial goods.

However, the obvious choice for India would have been to go for the agricultural sector as the prime moving force because India had natural resources from Rajasthan in the west to Odisha in the east and the fertile plains to feed the country. By organising our land ownership, irrigation and other inputs of agriculture, India could have gone for better prospects of development, once we as a nation would have achieved self-sufficiency in food grains, food security, national healthcare infrastructure, a shelter for all and universal education we could’ve realised one of biggest goals in human development. The most prosperous countries in the world today are not the most industrial in their approach towards development, they mostly have an all-round approach to human development that focuses on improving the standard of living of its citizens by ensuring excellent health care system and education.

However, learning from these prosperous Scandinavian countries we must plan our future course of action. In 1991, the government in power under late prime minister P.V  Narasimha Rao led LPG reforms right after the Current account deficit wherein India was only three weeks away from welshing on its external balance of payment obligations. International Monetary fund asked India to go for the reforms in exchange for an emergency loan of 2.2 billion dollars. Reforms formally began on 1^st July 1991 when RBI devaluated Indian rupee by 9% and by a further 11% on 3^rd July. The economic policy reforms yielded good results, dramatically improving the quality of life in India and a new boast to the banking industry. However, like every action has equal and opposite reaction, trade liberalisation corresponded with a dramatic rise in inequality and associated social issues. The Indian GDP rose from $266 billion in 1991(inflation-adjusted) to $3 trillion in 2019 (1100% increase) while its purchasing power parity rose from $1 trillion in 1991 to $12 trillion in 2019. Now let’s move ahead and understand the challenges ahead of India in becoming a superpower. 

India’s strengths in achieving its goals

India’s demographic dividend 

India’s biggest strength lies in its demographic dividend. India is the youngest country in the world with 2/3^rd of its population in the working-age group, the young blood in India should be channelised to achieve the goals India has set for herself. However, this aim can only be realised if our educational, manufacturing and service sectors are given a boost along with a steady medical infrastructure

The abundance of natural resources

Among India’s many other strength lies, its abundant natural resources and varied topography. Our land is endowed with a range of topographies ranging from the Himalayas in the north to the northern fertile plains, from the coal mines in Jharkhand and Odisha to gold mines in Karnataka and copper mines in Rajasthan. The fact that we’ve such a wide variety of natural resources puts us in a strong position to utilise our resources effectively while depending less on imports from our neighbours. The recent strides made by India in utilising solar, wind, thermal energy will only bring in long term dividends to India’s energy sector while cutting down our imports.

An ever-growing service sector

 One of the major advantages for India lies in its service sector. The service sector accounts for 53.66% of India’s Gross value-added product (GVA) while the industrial sector is at the second spot and contributing around 31% of the Indian GDP, this means that both service and industrial sector are contributing to the Indian GDP effectively. The only matter of concern here is, even though both service and industrial sector are the highest contributors to the GDP, the maximum number of people are still in the agriculture and fishery sector.

Strides in ease of doing business

India has continuously improved her position in the ease of doing business report published by the World bank year after year. The report measures the performance of countries across 10 different dimensions ranging from how easy or difficult it is to start a business, get access to construction permits, resolving insolvency, electricity availability, credit availability among others. India maintains its 1^st position among South Asian economies which was 6^th in the year 2014. Our performance in ease of doing business has created enough room for foreign investment in the country that will ultimately employ the youth, nurture their skill set and increase saving which will ultimately lead to economic growth. 

A growing economy

 At present, the Indian economy is passing through a rough time but it is expected to recover soon. As per the latest report of ‘World economic league table 2020; India has overtaken both France and the UK to become the world’s 5^th largest economy in 2019. Well, that certainly is some good news. Isn’t it?

India’s weaknesses

Inadequate health and education infrastructure 

Every country has its set of problems and so does India. Our problems are varied, the most important being inadequate health and educational infrastructure. Our health and education spending is hardly 3% of our GDP, i.e one of the lowest in the world. It is indeed alarming that a country of almost 3 billion people are not given appropriate health and educational infrastructure and has aspirations of being a superpower. In most modern democracies, health and education fall under the wider umbrella of duties of the state and it is indeed the responsibility of the state to make sure that an appropriate share of GDP is allocated on the two primary pillars of human development. 

Red-Tapism

Bureaucracy in India has long been plagued with Red-Tape. Excessive regulation and paperwork in every department and delay in the processing of documentation to achieve the desired goal makes it an uphill task for a common man to get the work done in Indian offices, corporations and other large organisations. The foremost solution to decrease red tape is by bridging the digital divide between the have and have nots and along the process digitalise most government offices and grievance redressal mechanisms for the benefit of the citizens at large. 

High interest rate 

The central bank is infamous for asking Indian banks to charge high-interest rates from its customers especially when inflation is predicted to rise more than the target. However, even when inflation rates are rather in control we often see Indians under the gloomy cloud of high-interest rates, with the high interest rate, the payment of interest rate and loans become ever more expensive, this in return discourages people from borrowing and further spending. Those who have taken loans will have less disposable income at their end that will ultimately lead to less consumption. 

A growing divide between the rich and the poor

The Indian economy is among one of the largest in the world. Its free-market principles post-1990 has brought significant dividends for the economy but at the same time, wealth distribution has been highly unequal. It is alarming how the richest 1% of Indian’s own 58.4% of the wealth. With the trend only going upwards every year. The irony of the situation is that even to this day, 22% of Indians are below the poverty line. What is particularly worrisome in India’s case is that economic inequality is often being added to a society that is already divided into the lines of caste, religion and gender. Income inequality when analysed and understood in terms of caste, religious and gender lines bring to us a blurry picture of shattered dreams and dual reality. This dual reality is of an India that is indeed an emerging superpower but at the same time, 22% of her population still does not know where its next meal will come from.

What needs to be done

We’ve made significant strides in the years gone by and it won’t be an understatement to give ourselves a pat on the back, but it’s time we accept the challenges ahead of us and strategise our plan of action accordingly. For starters, India needs to focus on strengthening health and education infrastructure, the healthier and educated our young ones are, the easier it is to achieve the goal of holistic development. Along with boosting our infrastructure, we must realise the principle of sustainable development. Since last 30 years world has been ever more conscious about preserving the environment, even though India has been given certain advantages because it’s a developing country, we should not undermine the importance of developing our infrastructure and our way of life on the lines of environmental ethics. 

Analysis 

It’s been over 70 years since India achieved its independence, it was a hard battle but we won it our independence by our very conviction in self-reliance and will to hold the baton of self-rule in our very hands. What India needs to do now is work towards achieving economic growth that has its roots in human development at large. We have indeed come far, but there’s still a long way to go. Being a superpower is not merely about a number or a spot on the world map, it is battle to become a better nation for ourselves and for those who dreamt of a nation that was united in its spirit, ever-growing, ever-flourishing, in letter and spirit.

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