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Dear Reader,
In 2018, a five-member Constitution bench of the Supreme Court legalised 'passive euthanasia' through Advance Medical Directives (AMD), enabling terminally ill individuals to lay down the scenarios where their family or nominees can provide consent to stop treatment or disallow invasive procedures and medications. Though common in the West, this facility is not widely known in India, nor have the state governments, except Goa, created the enabling mechanisms to make it accessible.
Now, some institutions, most notably the Thrissur Pain and Palliative Care Society in Kerala, are making an effort to orient citizens and governments on the provision. Article 14 brings you a deep report on the rights under the AMD—a step towards providing dignity in death.
On May 19, this year, two IT professionals were killed in Kalyani Nagar, Pune, after their motorcycle was hit by a speeding car allegedly driven by a minor in an intoxicated condition.
However, the tragedy, which resulted in national indignation and uproar, was not just confined to the two innocent victims. The resulting crackdown on illegal bars and pubs, and their closure, also consumed the livelihoods of "over 10,000 workers" in Pune – housekeepers, DJs, bouncers, waiters and bartenders -- largely migrants from Maharashtra and states like West Bengal, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and the Northeast. The Migration Story reports on the distress of the migrants who have no social security to lean on.
In Bihar, in another stark reminder of the state's below-par governance, the rural works department has seemingly constructed a bridge in the middle of agricultural fields in the Raniganj block of Araria district, with neither a road nor an approach path on either side. This purposeless and mindless act has created an uproar, even as the district administration pleads ignorance and orders an inquiry. मैं मीडिया reports on Bihar's bridge to nowhere.
Madhya Pradesh's Tribal Research and Development Institute, founded in 1954, preserves historical artiefacts, documents, and rare visuals chronicling the lives and traditions of the state's tribal people through the Shri Badal Bhoi State Tribal Museum in Chhindwara. The photo section was transferred to Bhopal's Shyamla Hills in 1965 to the MP Tribal Museum. The photos offer fascinating glimpses into the life and times of the tribal community, showcasing their settlements, attire, crafts, rituals, and resilience. Main Bhi Bharat brings you insights into tribal history and culture.
For more such stories from the grantees this week, please read on.
Warmly,
Sunil Rajshekhar
IPSMF
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