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Dear Reader,
Recent events in Punjab have threatened to revisit the tragic and dark days of the past – the decades of the Eighties and Nineties – when the state was held to ransom by secessionist and sectarian forces. A tragic chapter that consumed thousands of lives in its aftermath, including on the streets of the national capital.
Mojo Story reports from far and wide in Punjab on how joblessness, unreal aspirations and rampant drug addiction among the youth have been exploited by ‘cult figures’ who have promoted a culture of gangs and guns. However, it says, their bid to foment separatism and recreate the events of the past has found no takers on the ground.
Last week, in response to a question in the Lok Sabha, the Centre revealed a list of “areas” where Facial Recognition Technology (FRT) was being used. The government while asserting that there was not a single case of misuse nevertheless passed the buck for its appropriate use to the states, pleading that “police” and “public order” came within the ambit of the state governments. MediaNama brings you the story and the implications of the Centre’s stand.
The Covid pandemic brought home, if we did not already know, the central and critical role that doctors and healthcare professionals play in our communities. However, in Kerala, TrueCopy Think reports that the lessons are being forgotten as cases of attacks and assaults on doctors by patients’ families are on the rise.
And, from Bihar, मैं मीडिया highlights the plight of mid-day meal scheme workers, employed to make and serve the meals in schools across the state, who are paid an ‘honorarium’ which amounts to a shocking and paltry sum of “Rs 63 per day”. Unable to fend for their families, the workers are increasingly deserting their jobs for other means of livelihood.
For more such stories from the grantees this week, please read on.
Warmly,
Sunil Rajshekhar
IPSMF
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