Capturing currents

  By Malini Shankar Digital Discourse Foundation Thirty eight year old Nayaz works as a freelance driver in Bangalore in India. He earns a grand income of Rs. 13000 ( € 151.281 / US $ 176.644) a month. He is educated and speaks flawless English.   He has good inter personal skills and can boast of some good public relations. His regular clients’ list reveals his dependable traits. Yet he cannot monetise his skills and traits to make a decent standard of living. If a benevolent client sponsors his lunch during driving hours he can save some money on his food, he says.  COVID 19  triggered lockdown scaled down his meagre opportunities of part time employment too. People were not going out, they did not need him to drive them around. That meant no income.  He has seen better days. He was working in a Printing Press in Saudi Arabia but an industrial accident left him with loss of four fingers on his right hand. The four fingers are now barely seen as stubs. H...

  By Malini Shankar Digital Discourse Foundation When the Government of India unequivocally declared on the Floor of Parliament on 14 th September 2020, that there is no data on migrants’ deaths (during the COVID 19 triggered migration, in March 2020) it seemed quite the icing on the cake for an overwhelmed government that continues to stare bleakly at governance itself. The bleak truth remained that more than 20 million migrant workers – often described as the invisible wheels of India’s cash economy – departed from the source of their informal cash based employment to head home for a hand to mouth existence. Adding insult to injury (quite literally) the Parliament was told on 14 th September 2020 on the day the delayed Monsoon Session of Parliament was opened that it was Fake news that spurred the panicky migration. That amounts to denying the Prime Minister’s appeal to the Nation seeking cooperation for the Lockdown. -  result of a lack of transparent governance. ...

Protocols for community kitchens to attain food security  By Malini Shankar  Digital Discourse Foundation In the immediate aftermath of the Asian Tsunami, despite the deaths of some 12000 people, Government of India declined the offers of help of US Navy and other foreign powers, rightly so. Though there was not one structure or roof remaining in the entire Nicobar Islands (a notified tribal reserve / district), to India’s credit there was not one starvation death in the aftermath of the monster tsunami triggered natural calamity and disaster. Indeed there were many lessons to be learnt. Once the emergency was declared the Military Establishment took charge, subjugating the civilian bureaucracy in a perfectly synchronised democratic exercise. India’s Defence Forces, got into battle gear except that the enemy was not defined as opposed to the Nation’s sovereignty.  Ofcourse the Nicobarese did not get fish rice and Pandanus but they got nutritious alternatives which mig...