Economic Policy in Independent India provides an immersive, accessible yet rigorous understanding of the Indian economy through a political economy analysis of economic policies. It provides a birds-eye view of the politics, context, and ideas that shaped major economic policies in independent India and argues that they are the product of crisis, coalitions, and contingency — not necessarily choice. Each chapter focuses on specific political regimes: Colonial Rule, Jawahar Lal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, liberalisation under coalition governments, the UPA Government, and the NDA Government. The book evaluates how well a government executed its policies based on the economic and political constraints it faced, rather than economic outcomes. Using theories to make sense of the economy, political ideology, historical conditions, and international context, the book’s framework provides multiple perspectives and analyses economic policies as an outcome of interactions between dynamics in the economy.

The Indian story of economic growth and structural transformation has been one of significant achievements as well as continuing challenges. On the one hand, the economy has grown rapidly since the 1980s, drawing millions of workers out of agriculture. And the proportion of salaried or regular wage workers has risen while that of casual workers has fallen. On the other hand, manufacturing has failed to expand its share of GDP or employment significantly. Instead, construction and informal services have been the main job creators. Further, the connection between growth and good jobs continues to be weak.

When we speak of new opportunities, another important set of questions arises. Who is able to take advantage of them, and who is not? Has growth created faster improvements for marginalised groups, enabling them to catch up with more advantaged groups? This year’s report takes a detailed look at the impact that growth and structural change have had on some long-running social disparities. We show that significant progress has been made on all fronts since the 1980s, but also that there is a long road ahead. 

The report makes use of official datasets such as the NSO’s Employment-Unemployment Surveys, the Periodic Labour Force Surveys, the National Family Health Surveys, the Annual Survey of Industries, and the Economic and Population Censuses. The researchers also make use of a unique primary survey carried out in rural Karnataka and Rajasthan, the India Working Survey. This year’s report goes further than our earlier three editions and makes extensive use of regression analysis to offer more precise estimates of the impacts of structural change on employment conditions and outcome gaps.

गणना करना सीखना और संक्रियाएँ सीखना ही गणित सीखना नहीं है। गणित सीखने में बहुत कुछ है। इसके लिए गणित की भाषा सीखना और स्वयं गणित करना अहम है। ऐसा गणित, जो आपके दिमाग की क्षमता को खींचे व कर पाने की खुशी भी दे । इस अंक में गणित के लेख इन बातों को बखूबी दिखा रहे हैं। बच्चों को लिखना सिखाने पर भी इस अंक के लेखों में विस्तृत बात हुई है। संवाद व अन्य लेख लिखने के आयामों यथा लिखना और पुस्तकें पढ़ना-लिखना और मौखिक अभिव्यक्ति आदि को उभारते हैं। सीखने में अर्थ की भूमिका अहम है। जो भी सीखा जाना है, सीखने वाला अपने लिए उसका अर्थ खुद गढ़ता है और जब वह यह अर्थ गढ़ पाता है, तभी सीख पाता है। बच्चों को कविता का अर्थ खुद गढ़ने देने की बात करता एक लेख, कविता ही नहीं बल्कि कुछ भी सीखने में अर्थ की भूमिका क्या हो सकती है, रेखांकित करता है। शामिल पुस्तक चर्चा भी बच्चों के सीखने के बारे में बहुत से महत्त्वपूर्ण बिन्दु रखती है।

This is a monthly newsletter published by Azim Premji University, as a part of Forests of Life, a climate awareness festival celebrating forests — a quest and yatra of young people from across different parts to engage with the youth of this country. In this edition, we celebrate National Forest Martyrs Day which is commemorated on September 11 each year to pay tribute to those who sacrificed their lives to protect forests and wildlife. The day is aimed at creating awareness about protecting forests and the environment at large.

In a homogenised imagination of human aspirations, development interventions replicate popular models, including intensive farming in Adivasi landscapes. In the process, they try to sedentarise and individualise Adivasi communities living in the forest peripheries. Even as modernisation remains an elusive target in most of the tribal belts, ethnic socio-ecological institutions become redundant, leaving the community deskilled — ecologically, socially, and economically. Adivasi’s concerns about this conventional development process entailing detribalisation are seldom deliberated in literature and among the community. 

पाठशाला भीतर और बाहर के तेरहवें अंक में भाषा और गणित शिक्षण के कक्षा अनुभवों पर कई लेख हैं। संवाद में, कोविड के दौरान स्कूलबन्दी से विभिन्न स्तरों पर हुई सीखने की क्षति के प्रभावों व भरपाई के लिए सम्भव उपायों पर, शिक्षक प्रशिक्षकों के विचार शामिल हैं। अंक में ऐसे लेख हैं जो बच्चों की विविधता को दर्शाते हैं। विशेष रूप से एक लेख वन क्षेत्र के बच्चों बारे में बताता है कि स्कूल के लिए समय निकालने में कठिनाइयों के बावजूद, उनमें पर्यावरणीय अध्ययन और गणित विषय की अपनी समझ को लेकर बहुत आत्मविश्वास और क्षमता है। एक और दिलचस्प लेख, विज्ञान, वैज्ञानिक सोच और विज्ञान शिक्षण पर है, जो इस मसले पर हमारे सामने आने वाली चुनौती की गम्भीरता को सामने लाता है।

The 13^th issue of Pathshala Bheetar aur Baahar carries many articles on classroom experiences of teaching language and mathematics. It carries a dialogue among educators on the after effects, programs initiated for and lessons for education arising from the COVID episode. There are articles that reflect on diversity of children and in particular an article on children of forest areas points out that in spite of difficulties in finding time for school, they have a lot of confidence and competence in EVS and even in Mathematics. Another interesting piece is on Science, Scientific temper and Science education which brings out the seriousness of the challenge we face.

Bas saaru, Uppina saaru and massoppu are curries made of mixed greens, and are staples in the homes of Bengaluru residents. But these greens are not always bought in the market. They are also gathered from sidewalks, little strips of soil beside the road, drains, and around lakes. The act of gathering such edible plant species from private or public spaces in the city is called urban foraging, and it is a common practice across the globe.

In Bengaluru, it is mainly middle-aged or older women from low-income backgrounds who forage. These women are vital knowledge holders and experts on the local wild plants around them. They know what parts of the plants are used for food, medicine, or cultural uses, and which is the best season to forage. They also have delicious recipes, of curries, chutneys, and pickles that have been passed down through the generations.

Sadly, as the city has developed and urbanised, these foragers are losing access to the spaces where these greens were found. 

Yet, so many people still forage for wild plants across the city. It is a dying art, one which needs to be repopularised.

Chasing Soppu is a guide to wild edible plants of Bengaluru. In this book, we provide an introduction to 53 forageable species in the city. For each, we provide a guide for identification. We also share a collection of local recipes, shared by women foragers we spoke to, which can be used to cook these plants. In addition, we share some home remedies as well. 

We investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on income levels, poverty, and inequality in both the immediate aftermath and during the long uneven recovery till December 2021 using high-frequency household survey data from India. We find that the average all-India household income dropped between 30 to 38 percent during the months of the nationwide lockdown of April and May 2020. The subsequent recovery remained incomplete and was unevenly spread over the population even twenty-one months after the start of the pandemic. Households, on average, continued to make 16 to 19 percent lower cumulative income in the post-lockdown period, but have mostly recovered after the second wave in the second half of 2021. Poverty more than doubled during the lockdown and was 50 to 80 percent higher in the post-lockdown period in comparison to the pre-pandemic levels. In the post-second-wave phase, poverty was still slightly higher than in the pre-pandemic period, and any progress in poverty reduction that would have been achieved under normal circumstances over the two years was lost. Inequality too spiked during the lockdown, but returned back to the pre-pandemic levels. Using an event study model we find that the initial shock of the lockdown was more severe for the bottom of the income distribution, but the bottom also experienced a faster recovery. On the other hand, the top end of the distribution experienced smaller declines during the lockdown but they have been slow to recover. The bottom deciles in any period typically constituted households working in contact-intensive, informal, less secure occupations that were hit the hardest during the lockdown, but were quick to recover when the economy opened up. The upper end of the distribution constituted households working in less contact-intensive, formal, secure occupations that were shielded from the sudden shock but were slow to recover.

पाठशाला भीतर और बाहर के अंक 9 में बच्चों को पढ़ना-लिखना सिखाने की शुरुआत और आगे इसका विस्तार कैसे किया जा सकता है इस पर लेख हैं। कुछ अन्य लेख गणित शिक्षण से जुड़ी मान्यताओं, और ये मान्यताएँ शिक्षण और सीखने को कैसे प्रभावित करती हैं, पर केन्द्रित हैं। सामाजिक अध्ययन की कक्षा में परस्पर विरोधी मुद्दों पर की गई चर्चा कैसे बच्चों में आलोचनात्मक सोच विकसित करती है, से जुड़े लेख भी इस अंक में हैं। एक‑दो लेखों में लॉकडाउन के दौरान बच्चों व शिक्षकों के लिए आयोजित की कई कक्षाओं के अनुभव साझा किए गए हैं।

इस अंक में समावेशन और समानता से सम्बन्धित दो लेख हैं। पहले लेख में शिक्षक‑शिक्षा पाठ्यक्रम के अन्तर्गत ​‘जेण्डर संवेदनशील शिक्षण क्यों व कैसे’ की पड़ताल की गई है। दूसरा लेख जनजातीय बच्चों को शिक्षा के दायरे में लाने और उनके लिए सीखना सम्भव बनाने के बारे में है। इस अंक का साक्षात्कार, अनुराग बेहार से राष्ट्रीय शिक्षा नीति 2020 के मूलभूत तत्त्वों पर टुलटुल बिस्वास द्वारा की गई बातचीत पर आधारित है। पुस्तक चर्चा में जिस किताब की चर्चा है, उसका नाम है- एक स्कूल मैनेजर की डायरी ।

Issue- 9 includes a range of articles on importance of and teaching of reading and writing to children. These explore how reading and writing maybe initiated and then furthered. Other articles touch upon beliefs about teaching of mathematics and how they impact teaching and learning and on how classroom discussion on conflicting issues in Social Science help develop critical thinking. Some other articles focus on the sharing experiences of organizing classes for children and for teachers during the lockdown. 

There are two articles related to issue of inclusion and equity in education. One on of them explores why and how of Gender education in context of teacher education curriculum and the other is about education of Jan Jati children and making learning possible for them. The interview in this issue is with Anurag Behar and focuses on the foundational elements of the National education policy 2020. And the book discussed in the issue is ​‘Ek School Manager kii dairy’.

This working paper studied individual religiosity, trust, and trustworthiness to find that more religious people are more likely to exhibit greater trustworthiness even if religiosity does not predict trust.

The paper attempts to develop arguments around concepts like ​‘Gaze’ and the understanding of ​‘bodies’ within popular culture. In its discussion on the ​‘male gaze’, it raises pertinent questions of ways in which, with the rise of consumerism, the women’s representation, particularly in the popular media, has become more vulnerable. This paper has tried to problematise the existing notion of popular women’s magazines as ​‘best companion for women’, as they are fraught with contradictions of what they claim to be and represent. The paper further explores the changing meanings of representation particularly with the advent of globalisation and the rise of the beauty industry.

The Historical Evolution of the District Officer: From Early Days to 1947, is the first of five volumes written by Dr CK Mathew (Fmr. Former Chief Secretary, Rajasthan). Popularly known as district collector/​deputy commissioner/​district magistrate, the district officer is a critical element in the hierarchy of India’s governance structure. Originally, it was created for revenue collection by the British East India Company and extended in its scope over time. In post-independence India, it mutated to become the administrative head of every district, addressing grievances and implementing public welfare programmes. 

This working paper reflects on the importance of how oppressed and exploited communities look at education, at the relations of power in pedagogy and curricula, how students internalize ways of looking at class life that come from their social location and so on in an Indian context.

The latest issue of Learning Curve focuses on ​‘arts in school education’. The burthen of the collective message of this issue is: in the life of our children, Art is as essential as any other subject. Art sharpens perceptions of the world around us, it increases awareness and sensitivity. It also enhances human relationships as we discover the similarities of the artistic experience. There is a general recognition of the fact that the word ​‘art’ encapsulates within itself a wealth of meaning, as witness phrases such as the art of writing, of communication, of social and political exchange.