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Dear Reader,
The mandated delimitation of Lok Sabha constituencies, which is on the anvil post-2026, is a political dynamite with a very short fuse. MPs from the southern states were already up in arms over the issue in the Rajya Sabha last week.
ThePrint reports that the re-demarcation of the boundaries of electoral constituencies based on population will end up punishing the southern states for their efficacy in population control while rewarding some of the states in northern India who have not been as successful. For instance, UP which currently has 80 seats will garner an audacious 143 seats while Kerala will remain at the present 20. The Lok Sabha is projected to have a strength of 848 if the delimitation exercise is based on the projected population for the 2031 census.
A scenario which, if sagacious and sane garnishes are not employed in their application, threatens to fundamentally upend India’s political and power equations to the detriment of the southern states.
Mojo Story reports on the dark side of India’s “education capital” Kota in Rajasthan, where almost two lakh 15-year-olds from all over India flood the town in search of an education that will catapult them into India’s premier institutions – the IITs, medical and other vaunted engineering colleges. With punishing 15-hour schedules, alienated from the world and their parents, with little or no physical activity, the children, living under unrelenting pressure, suffer depression and mental health issues. With some, tragically, taking recourse to end their own lives.
Janchowk travels to villages near Chandhauli, located in the Mughalsarai district of Uttar Pradesh, one of the biggest coal markets in the country, to tell us how coal is taking a toll on the coal mine workers and villagers around the area. Exposed to coal dust and pollution, the consequences are severe – particularly with rampant instances of tuberculosis.
Leadership change is a challenge, for countries and organisations. India Development Review looks at the challenges; and analyses how they can be effectively navigated.
For more such stories from the grantees this week, please read on.
Wishing you a very happy 2023.
Warmly,
Sunil Rajshekhar
IPSMF
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