Dear Reader,
Faced with unbridled gangsterism and lawlessness, the Indian State's penchant for employing extra-judicial methods to bring criminal kingpins to heel, and dispense ‘conspicuous justice’, seems to be steadily gaining legitimacy.
This resort to ‘revenge justice’, while providing instant gratification to citizens, inured to the inefficacy of the criminal justice system, has unfortunately inflicted significant social and economic costs. ThePrint looks at the causes and impact of encounter killings in India.
Even as India pushes and grows the adoption of digital technologies, the flip side is that the digital divide is widening. A study last year estimated that almost 70 per cent of Indians had very poor access to digital technologies while 60 per cent of households are digitally illiterate. India Development Review discusses how the very clear achievements in inclusions also cause exclusions, usually of the most vulnerable.
Just a few months ago, in the first week of January, Joshimath town in Uttarakhand began sinking and made headlines in the national and international media. However, even as the media has turned its gaze away, the residents, particularly women, mark hundred days of protest this week against the abysmal relief and rehabilitation they have received. The protest also underlines the lethargy of the government to seek and implement deeper solutions to the town’s woes. The Citizen brings you the story.
And, in Kerala’s Wayanad, the Government’s effort to resettle inhabitants of villages, mainly tribals, away from the protected areas of the forests has been largely floundering. As Keraleeyam Masika reports, the villagers are not overly willing to relocate as they find the compensation wholly inadequate, opportunities for livelihoods in the new places uncertain and provision for education of their children absent.
For more such stories from the grantees this week, please read on.
Warmly,
Sunil Rajshekhar
IPSMF
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