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Follow Request: The Government of India

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A brief look at the Ministry of Human Resource Development’s (MHRD) letter to all higher education institutes to link all student accounts to the social media accounts of the institutes, and the ministry and the reactions of college students.

A letter sent on 3rd July 2019 by the MHRD to all higher education institutes requesting them to identify and designate a faculty/non-faculty member as the “Social Media Champion” (SMC) whose duty it will be to get all the students of the college to connect their Twitter/Facebook/Instagram accounts to that of the MHRD and the educational institution by the 31st July. This move has already received a lot of backlash with the AISA saying on 9th July, that this step was aimed at curbing the freedom of expression of students. While the MHRD has replied that this step is completely voluntary for the students and they will not have any access to the student’s posts or data if a student follows them on social media, this move is still a cause for concern among the student community.

A copy of the MHRD’s letter sent to all Higher Education Institutes
A copy of the MHRD’s letter sent to all Higher Education Institutes

On talking to several students, it was found that some students felt the very act of asking students to follow certain pages was wrong, even though the MHRD ministry claims that it will just use this as a way to promote good work done by them and the educational institutes. Srijan Vaish , a first-year student from Dyal Singh College said, “The MHRD ministry is run by the government which is run by a  political party with its own particular ideologies, in this case the Bharatiya Janta Party  and the ideology of ‘hindutva’. So if students are compelled to follow their page, as young students, we can fall prey to the ideas that the central government is trying to promote. I feel that this manipulating the youth and not giving us the right to think for ourselves.”

While most students disagreed with the idea of following the MHRD, there was some who felt that something more sinister was going on behind the scenes, and felt that this would be the first step to monitoring students, their posts and their data. Prachi Johri, a second-year student from Indraprashta College for Women said that this could open the door for the government to “invade the privacy” of students. Prachi went on to say that if the government does take this extreme measure, it would “make the minorities, Muslims, LGBTQIA+ community, tribes and people with ideologies against the BJP lives very hard to survive, as the government will probably bully or lock them up for speaking against the government. It’ll disclose a lot of things to public which a student might not want to share. This will create a sense of fear and will stop students from pursuing higher education.”

In conclusion, while the MHRD might have good intentions and want to share their good work with students, perhaps connecting social media is not the best way to do it as lots of students are against this step, and additionally, feel that “sharing good work” is not the real motive of the government behind taking such steps.

Feature Image Credit: The Quint

Prabhanu Kumar Das
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The Three Language Formula and Unity in Diversity Do Not Go Hand in Hand

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The progressive National Education Policy (NEP) was in headlines recently when an old controversy reappeared in its document.

‘Balkanisation’ is a geo-political term used to explain the fragmentation of a large sovereign territory into smaller units due to social, political or cultural differences. The optimal examples of countries that surrendered themselves to this phenomenon are Yugoslavia and USSR. There are other failed attempts of segregation where states could not attain sovereignty because of compromise or suppression. Among others, the Indian state of Tamil Nadu is an astute example. The unflattering and relentless opposition of Tamilians towards the Hindi language has an 80-year-old history. It has led to violent protests, polarization and demand for a separate nation at different epochs of 20th century.

The current draft of the NEP is progressive in many ways. Orchestrated by noted scientist K. Kasturirangan, it promises to revitalize the ailing education system of India. Among other reforms, it changes the focus group for imparting education from 6-14 to 3-18 years. It also brings accreditation system in schools and envisions that by 2035, the gross enrolment ratio in schools will increase to 50% compared to the current 25%. But these amendments did not grab the eyeballs as much as a paragraph in the policy to implement the Three Language Formula did.

The Formula first appeared in the NEP in 1968. The clause suggests that along with Hindi and English, any Modern Indian Language be taught to students in Hindi-speaking states and the regional language be taught in non-Hindi speaking state. The formula resurrected the long running resistance against Hindi imposition in South Indian states, especially Tamil Nadu. Tamilians, in order to conserve their identity and culture, have been protesting against compulsory Hindi education since 1937. Leaders like Periyar, who formed the Dravidar Kazhagam, initiated this anti-Hindi agitation when the then Indian National Congress government made teaching of Hindi compulsory in schools of Madras Presidency. The anti-Hindi sentiment has given genesis to the idea of Dravida Nadu, a hypothetical sovereign country comprising the non-Hindi speaking states of Southern India. E.V Ramasamy (Periyar) and C.N Annadurai, who were the initial proponents of Dravida Nadu, made an attempt to Balkanise India as they feared the hegemony of Hindi would repress their native languages.

But the fear is not inappropriate either. One of the most controversial subjects in the Constitutional Assembly debate was selection of India’s official language. Noted historian Ramachandra Guha writes that when R.Dhulekar, a member of the house from United Provinces stood up to move an amendment, he started speaking in Hindustani. When the chairman reminded him that many people do not know the language, he replied, “People who do not know Hindustani have no right to stay in India.” The amount of chauvinism reflected in his majoritarian perspective makes it evident why our dear ones in the South are sceptical about compulsory Hindi education.

Following backlash from political parties in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, the government officially amended a portion of the NEP. In the new draft, students will have the choice of changing any language they want to. The war of language has been very sensitive and controversial in India. It has fabricated the politics of Tamil Nadu in such a drastic way that the implicit advocate of Hindi imposition, the Congress party has never come back to power after 1967 following the anti-Hindi agitation of that year.

The ship of Unity in diversity sails only when there’s unity without uniformity and diversity without fragmentation. Imposing uniformity by enclosing a country like India will bring consequences that we don’t need or deserve.

Feature Image Source: NCERT

Priyanshu

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Beyond the Obvious of Delhi University Colleges

Turning a Blind Eye Towards Maternal Mortality

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Three lakh women die from issues in pregnancy and childbirth. So why the ignorance and indifference towards this huge loss to a family?

World Health Organisation (WHO) defines maternal death as the death of a woman while pregnant, or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and site of the pregnancy. Maternal mortality rate is the number of registered maternal deaths due to birth or pregnancy related complications per 100,000 registered live births. In a world with almost 4 billion women, this issue is touching our lives in one way or the other, yet we do not talk about it as much as we should.

People are not equipped with the knowledge they need, especially in a country like India, to understand the gravity of the issue. This often begins and ends at being a “women’s issue”. Three lakh women, all over the world, die each year from problems in pregnancy and childbirth. About 700 women die each year in the United States alone, while 830 women die each day worldwide, as reported by WHO. The chances of dying during pregnancy, in some places, are 1 out of 15.
I can recall workshops being held at schools regarding menstruation, pregnancy and related ideas only attended by girls, while boys stood outside waiting to hear what this ‘forbidden fruit’ was. Firstly, why should this just be restricted to them when each and everyone is impacted by it?

Secondly, the knowledge provided to the students is inadequate.Several factors can lead to maternal mortality. The first being age, where women below the age of 20, and above 35 are at risk. Socio-economic status in the society is another factor. Where poor and illiterate individuals do not have access to education, healthcare, proper nutrition, guidance, and care are at risk of death during pregnancy. Women are also placed on a lower pedestal and viewed as subordinate, which can be a reason for not being given adequate support during their most important time. The societal pressure of bearing a male child also adds a strain on the emotional and mental health. Unplanned babies, poor sanitation and hygiene facilities,infections, and other factors can also increase the risk. Hypertensive disorders are responsible for 14% pregnancy related deaths, pulmonary embolism causes 3% of the deaths, and 10% women die due to direct complications. Yet, we are not aware of these statistics. To understand the core issues, the world needs to move beyond books like ‘What to Expect When You’re Expecting’.
The Special Bulletin of Maternal Mortality in India by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in June 2018 stated that among the southern states, the decline has been from 93 to 77 and 115 to 83 in others. As reported by the WHO, factors like access to quality healthcare, state subsidised financing, mitigation of social determinants, and positive engagement between public and private healthcare providers has helped India in reducing MMR by 77% in 2016.
The death of a mother is tragic, with a devastating effect on the families. Though the MMR has witnessed a decline, it is important to educate the masses of such prevalent issues. Proper check-ups during the pregnancy and a nutritious diet is a must for both the mother and the baby.

Feature Image Credits: Saubhagya Saxena for DU Beat.

Shivani Dadhwal

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If Politicians Were Delhi University Students

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A ‘what if’ scenario imagining politicians as DU students. 

The great leaders of tomorrow are made in the great educational institutions of today. So, for satire’s sake, we tried thinking how it would be to place some eminent politicians of our nation as students in some eminent colleges of the University of Delhi. The results have been weirdly amusing, to say the least.

Manmohan Singh: He is the studious student who has it all sorted out. You can find him on the front seat with thick lenses focused on the words in his books, and the words on the blackboard. He arrives in class, studies diligently, and goes back home without anyone detecting a trace of his existence, as he hardly utters a word. He belongs to the species of nerds but finds it tacky to show off his knowledge.

Preferred course- Economics, Political Science, and Philosophy. 

Preferred college- SRCC, Hindu, Hansraj

Assaudin Owaisi: He is the one kid in college who can’t live without using his vocal cords to the maximum of their capability. The troublemaker student, he will always find himself in some sort of pickle, be it with the fellow students or the administration. Despite this rebellious attitude, you cannot expect him to align himself with one particular faction or group. Therefore, he also falls in the category of those students whose friend circle keeps changing every college year, not implying that he is a snake (saap in classic DU terms). 

Preferred course- Political Science, Law

Preferred college- Ramjas, Law Faculty

Maneka Gandhi: She is the classic feminist University of Delhi girl. You can find her tactfully expressing her opinions against misogyny and patriarchy through her carefully chosen words. Apart from issues related to women, she is be expected to show up at any/all protests surrounding threats made to the members of the DU fraternity face, with the venue, mostly being the classic Faculty of Arts. Mess with this student and you might end up paying a hefty price.

Preferred course- Sociology

Preferred college- LSR, Miranda House

Shashi Tharoor: He is known for his good grades, good looks, self-confidence, and charm, used to impress all the girls in the college; Shashi Tharoor easily falls within the bracket of students who have it all. He is usually self-obsessed and narcissistic in order to maintain his image, especially in the way he arranges his hair or the bourgeoisie language he uses. As mentioned previously, he is the Casanova of the college and is likely to have a girlfriend who meets his intellectual capabilities. However, when two intellectuals are together, a clash of opinions is inevitable. 

Preferred course- English, Philosophy

Preferred college- St. Stephen’s (isn’t that obvious?)

Lalu Prasad Yadav:  Our classic Bihari babu is an expert at everything pertaining to cattle and fodder, but, don’t underestimate him “inki girlfriend Rabri Vidhayak hain”. He is the kid that questions the teacher and mimics him behind his back for the sake of entertaining the whole class. He helped us understand the value of friendships in college; he says ‘I thought Nitish babu was my friend in the first year, but by the third year I realised he is a snake in lieu with that CR Modi’. No one ever trusts him with money as he always says it’s for his cows back home, but never returns it.

Preferred course and college – “arrey bhaiya kuch bhi dedo bas DU main le lo”

Yogi Adityanath: Hailing straight from Uttar Pradesh, this bhakt of Ram is the most religious kid on campus, with a passion for ‘renaming things’.  As a result of this, Jackson from class became Jai kishan! He’s always dressed in orange, a unique dress code that seems to be the fashion of the days. Don’t underestimate him by his size because he beats (quite literally) everyone in his love for the cow. He is a fresher to the college but has already made his presence felt everywhere.

Preferred course – B.Sc. mathematics

Preferred college – Hindu college   

Rahul Gandhi:  The baba himself, though it is too early for him to go to college, his mother still comes to drop him off. You can never spot him in class as he is most likely to be sitting somewhere doodling, or staring into space. No one takes him seriously even after he became the CR. People from the other class joke about him on their class Whatsapp groups. He is following family suit in standing for college elections, but honestly, he just wants to sit at home and watch Shinchan. However, he is surrounded by a lot of seniors who are saving him from trouble, but until when?

Preferred Course – whatever Mom says

Preferred college – St. Stephens (is home tuition still an option in college?)

 

Feature Image Credits: India.com

Shaurya Singh Thapa

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Haris Khan

 

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The Educational Refugees of Kashmir

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As many in the country target a community in hatred, read the account of being marginalised and misunderstood in the country’s capital.

It is easy to protest when there are people to answer your slogans. While in Kashmir, I participated in some of the street protests. I protested when my friends got killed and blinded by the ‘non-lethal’ pellet guns. I knew the risks of participating in such gatherings; death, an injury, or a life full of misery. However, I had made peace with such possibilities under the belief that protesting was indispensable to a democracy. I had concluded that this equanimity was justified.

After shifting to Delhi four years ago, I found myself in a different situation. I came across people who knew little to nothing about the Kashmir conflict, and people who thought they knew everything. The latter was more difficult to deal with. Their primary source of knowledge about Kashmir was Bollywood movies and biased news media. I had two options- one, stay quiet and the other was to make them understand what the conflict is all about. I chose the latter.

As a Kashmiri studying in a premier Indian university, I have witnessed the cognitive dissonance of the supposedly intellectual lot of the country. Being a student of journalism, I cannot run away from these discussions. But it has been a daunting struggle to balance my safety and will to speak the truth. I can recall an event of my early days at college when a police officer was baffled to see Urdu on my Aadhar card. To quench his astonishing curiosity, I amicably mentioned that this is how Aadhar cards are in Kashmir. However, I had amplified his suspicion. “Kashmir se hai, phir toh acche se bag check karva” is what he said. Ignorance offers complete impunity to the perpetrators of intolerance.

Repeated shutdowns and curfews forced me to migrate. Delhi was not my first choice. However, I couldn’t get my passport on time because of the ‘thorough’ and slow verification process that only Kashmiris undergo. The conflict followed me to Delhi. I realised that no matter how quiet or non-opinionated I become, I will be attacked for who I am. My survival is a protest in itself. I and various Kashmiri students like me are the educational refugees who have made a decision to leave their homes for an education. Many Kashmiri students, in the past, have been charged with sedition for unjustified reasons. As Kashmiris, our each move is scrutinised, and each action is seen as for or against the state. We brave numerous odds to get an education but then it is our comrades back home who face the worst.

The recent attack in Pulwama unleashed the bigoted ‘reactionary violence’ on our community. A wave of suspensions and xenophobic attacks against Kashmiri students followed. Kashmiris like me who live in various Indian states for a decent education are being attacked on the pretext of supporting the militants in Kashmir. There have been repeated calls for violence against Kashmiris on social media and no action has been taken against the culprits. As a student who has been bearing the brunt of this conflict and the hate that it accompanies, I want peace more than anyone else does but this ‘blood for blood’ attitude will always result in more violence. We must not let this hate consume more blood.

In the end, we are just normal students with our own dreams to achieve. But we cannot afford to let our guard down at a time when our identity and our rights are being trampled upon. A life of normalcy is a distant dream for us but hope for a better future is what keeps us going.

“Hope is a weapon. Survival is victory.” –Dunkirk

Feature Image Courtesy: Kashmir Reader

Maknoon Wani

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Hindu College

Straight from the Horse’s Mouth: Hinduites on the V-Tree Pooja

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The tradition of the ‘Virgin Tree pooja’ at Hindu College, wherein students pray in front of a tree on Valentine’s Day with the hope of losing their virginity, is viewed with diverse and opposing perspectives.

“I’m just young, rich, and tasteless,” says rapper Pusha T in the song ‘Runaway’. It might be an apt slogan for the tradition of the Virgin Tree (V-Tree) pooja at Hindu College. “Young” because maybe we’re the youth desperate to get laid; but also “tasteless” because maybe we recognise the problems with the tradition and go on regardless. “Rich” is slightly irrelevant here.

The tradition, which takes place at Valentine’s every year sees students worshipping the V-Tree. A female celebrity is chosen as the ‘Damdami Mai’ and the Mr. Fresher of the boys’ hostel, dressed as the pandit, does the pooja. Recently, the same has begun for the girls’ hostel also, wherein a ‘Love Guru’ is worshipped by the Ms. Fresher. Water filled condoms are hung on the tree, an aarti is sung, the water is showered on the crowd and a Holi-like celebration follows. Apparently, thou shall loseth thy V-card should thou showereth in the condometh watereth. Hindu 6:9, perhaps? Students view the pooja in a variety of ways. Defenders say that the motive is spreading awareness about safe sex. Others say that it’s patriarchal, misogynist, and excludes many. Yet others fall somewhere in between. “(The pooja) serves the purpose of spreading sexual awareness. It tries to do away with the taboo associated with sex,” says a second-year History Honours student. This was reiterated by Shubham Yadav, the Girls Students’ Welfare Minister. She said that while posters about AIDS awareness are also put up, the aarti is very demeaning.

This reasoning isn’t convincing to many.
Kareema Barry, a second-year English Honours student says that the inclusion of the male celebrity was only “tokenistic.” “What about transgenders? Aren’t we neglecting them? The solution is not to put their picture but to remove all of them,” says Sakshi Priya, Vice President of the college’s Women’s Development Cell while proposing a discussion on safe sex instead. Parakram Chauhan, a Philosophy Honours fresher comments on the “toxicity” behind the the pooja in terms of “seeing getting laid as some sort of prize or blessing.”

What are the freshers expecting?
One such expectation is to see a proper way of disposing of condoms, according to Mrinalinee Sharma of the History department. Khushi Gupta of the same department says “I want to see how they hang condoms after filling them with water, I’m very excited.” Parakram says he’s expecting “nothing at all.” However, a large chunk of them seems to be unaware of what the pooja is. Various students have protested against the tradition and some tell us that the crowds had declined last year. While Pinjra Tod’s article on the subject, which condemns the pooja as a contributor to “rape culture — which slut shames women who assert their sexuality,” is a bit overblown, not even the defenders deny that it could be made more inclusive and less demeaning.

Whether it’s a silly tradition or a serious issue, and whether it needs amendment or abolition, is for us to decide. We must ask if we’re just being tasteless, or something much more serious than that.

Image Credits: DU Beat

Prateek Pankaj
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Editorial: “Mumma, Papa, meet…”

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Loving in a culture where all love outside marriage is forbidden is taxing. Read our Editor’s take on it.

Love is the common language spoken across the world. Stories of love have existed in every society that ever told stories. When we remember how fundamental romantic attachment is to human beings, how common and natural, our society’s desire to stop people from loving, it seems toxic and selfish. Our parents don’t accept the fact that we could or would want to experience dating, companionship, or love. Most of us aren’t “allowed” to date, not that it means we don’t. We don’t tell our parents about our love life and significant others, caught in the fear that they may never approve. We don’t seek love advice from them, introduce them to our significant others, or share the details of our whereabouts with them with honesty. And if, by chance, our love strays from the hetero-normative narrative of love between a female and a male, the discomfort and fear of acceptance increases manifold.

For most Indian kids, love begins with lies. “I am going to meet Neha,” we say as we dash to the farthest end of our street for a sneaky ice- cream, and walk with someone who is certainly not Neha. These cloak and dagger games can be exciting initially but, as we grow up, we realise they are something far more sinister. Most families hold different beliefs regarding dating and love. Some might want their children to keep away from relationships “to keep them focused on academics” while others have far more rigid ideas about the same, like believing love and sexual experiences are reserved within the institution of marriage. It is in these households where young adults who are actively dating are, at best, at the risk of parental disapproval and, at worst, of losing their freedom, agency, as well as independence.  The punishment of love in India without parents’ approval can range from having one’s phone taken away, to being made to quit the pursuit of education and, in extreme cases, to honour killings as well. Our culture has intertwined love with marriage, with controlling ideas about monogamy, togetherness, and “purity”. The impact on women has been undeniably worse since the “punishment” for loving has been known to be far more unforgiving on them than on men.

We don’t grow up with the right ideals of love.  We live in a country where a common experience of all our peers is telling their first big lie to their parents with regard to someone they were dating. We couldn’t talk to our parents openly, or ask them questions about love, sex, relationships, boundaries, consent, and respect  because we could never anticipate if it would be met with disapproval or punishment. We hid under our blankets sneakily texting our 9th grade crush, or sneaked out for study sessions with our boyfriend/girlfriend, and came to college and talked to our parents about everything in detail, except the person we loved.

Love, in itself, is capable of inciting fear. We invest our time and energy into someone who could one day casually walk up to us, say that it isn’t working out, and walk away, leaving us to deal with the walls crumbling around. But aside from the natural insecurity, in families, cultures, and communities where love is taboo, people are more likely to confuse love with and abuse. After all, they were never taught the difference between the two.

The approval of our parents is important. Running home after a star in our notebooks, or winning a match, a debate, a rangoli competition, and hearing them say, “I am proud of you, beta” is immensely precious for many of us, and nothing really beats that, not when we were ten and not now as well. It is sad therefore, that our parents don’t say it enough, and sadder perhaps that the approval they reserve for academic and extracurricular achievements, isn’t extended to forming  beliefs systems which make us healthy, happy, fully-functioning human beings. Our parents will not tell us they are proud of us for breaking away from a toxic partner. Most of us would never have our parents sit down next to us, and comfort us with a cup of chai and a heart-to-heart conversation about heartbreak, like they did after every bad result, lost match, public failure.

I wish, like all the kahaaniyan (stories) our parents told to put us to sleep when we were children, the ones that taught us how to be brave, how to be kind, how to have compassion, also told us how to love, how to be respected and respectful in love, when to stay and when to leave, when to hold on and when to let go. Perhaps, we would have been kinder to ourselves and those we have loved, then. For Indian parents, who claim to do everything for the well-being of their children, do one more thing – give them the freedom to love, whomever they want and however they want.

Kinjal Pandey

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Arts & Culture

A Republic is Yet to be Born?

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India is slowly inching its way into making its mark on the global and anarchical realm of international politics. But in the hustle, bustle, and glamour, has the Republic of India lost touch with what makes it a Republic?

A Republic is typically defined as a nation wherein the people are the key stakeholders in the governance of the
country; a nation where the citizens are empowered to rule themselves by choosing their elected representatives,
legitimised by the Constitution. It was on the establishment of the longest written Constitution of the world, the
first Republic Day was celebrated on 26th January 1950.

Talking about how much context matters, the Constitution of India is ever growing and ever evolving, despite being one of the most rigid and absolute texts to have come into acceptance. The authors of this book entailed in its pages, modern concepts that are still relevant to this day. This statement, thus, begs the question: Even after 69 years of India being a Republic, has the current political scenario backtracked the sovereign, and reduced it to mere power politics?

Sovereign state boundaries exist for a reason. It is the demarcation and the geographic separation of land that makes a country a nation-state. But the true meaning of a nation-state, seems to have been lost on the citizens of this country, who have forgotten what their duties and responsibilities are. Its essence is adrift on our political leaders,
who are bound to be the representatives of the grassroots, but in status quo, are sadly only illustrative of the few who
dominate the wealth and the banks.

The protection of the sovereignty and dignity has been one of the top most priorities, coming out of shackles of colonialism. Yet there is still a Kashmir in India, supposedly housing the fantasy of a heaven on Earth, where the honourability of each citizen is questioned everyday due to political games and disputes. Yet, there is still a North-East in India, where voices seem to never be heard.

To say that the State has failed its citizens, is a convenient scapegoat that can be applied to any prevalent
government in power. To say that the citizens have not been wise in choosing their representatives, is also essentially
conveying the same sentiment of shrugging off the blame. Alas, what choice are the people left with, when None
Of The Above (NOTA) has no legitimate effect in the political structure. In our electoral system, NOTA has no electoral value. Even if the situation emerges where NOTA gets more votes than any candidate in the elections, the candidate who has secured the highest number of votes after NOTA will still hold office. This expression of rejection through casting your vote guarantees no accountability,since it does not constitute a re-election or change in candidacy. The very fact that NOTA is emblematic is the dreadful reason why it cannot be successful in an illiterate and puerile democracy like ours, where charisma and ascendancy are given more significance than one’s ability to introduce and implement affirmative policies.Is India, truly a Republic? A Republic where the voters are robbed of the right to express their dissent? Are the citizens then, really empowered to choose?
Our democracy is scattered, lacking structure and the focus that is vital to rebuild this great nation’s glory.
Maybe the need of the hour, is the introduction of a Machiavellian Prince in status quo, a strong individual who cannot be reckoned with, to get us back into track. To a time when we were not broken, were not colonised. To a time when there was supposed peace. I wonder when that time will come. I wonder, when sisterhood among differences will prevail. I wonder.

Bhavya Banerjee

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Uncategorized

The Girl with a PhD: Dr. Kamala Sohonie

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In a country where women are still told which professions are suitable for their gender, Sohonie is an inspiration who literally helped open the doors of research in science to women. If somebody ever says “women are not cut out for science”, use excerpts from Sohonie’s story to inspire you forward.

 

“Kamala Sohonie was a quiet, unassuming person. A woman of few words.”- Vasumati Dhuru, an Indian author.

 

This woman of few words, born in 1911, had decided as a young child that she would become a renowned chemist just like her uncle because she resembled him in appearance. The hurdles, struggles, and misogyny did not exist for the young kid’s resolution. That did not deter her from going on to earn the title of the “first female PhD-holder of India”. Her contemporaries were budding to satiate their love for curiosity, but Dr. Sohonie had to pay the penalty of rebuke and ostracisation for her curiosity, despite the unwavering support of her highly-educated family.

 

Graduating first in her BSc course class from Bombay University, she challenged the first Asian Nobel Laureate in Physics- Dr. C.V. Raman- when he refused her admission for Master’s at the Indian Institute of Science based on her gender. She publicly stated later on, “I can never forget the way he treated me just because I was a woman. This was a great insult to me.” Yet when it came to enduring his unnecessary conditions for allowing her an education at the Indian Institute of Science, she did it all for the love of science. Professor Raman began to admit female students after Kamala’s work captivated his scientific mind. She surpassed the stereotype and opened the door, quite literally, for female curiosity.

 

She won a scholarship for Cambridge, then a fellowship at the laboratory of Fredrick G. Hopkins. Less than 16 months after working under the Nobel Laureate, she submitted a thesis on the role of cytochrome-C in the respiration of plant tissue. Her doctorate was one of the landmarks for the entire science community because it was merely forty pages in length, when theses of over ten thousand words were a common convention.

 

Returning to India in 1939, she became a professor and the HOD of biochemistry at Lady Hardinge Medical College, New Delhi. She joined the Royal Institute of Science in Bombay as a professor in 1947, but it took her four years to head the department because of gender biases and politics. This Rashtrapati Award winner who worked on ‘Neera’ collapsed and died, 86, at the Indian Council of Medical Research shortly after her honouring ceremony, in a setting she strived in her life to be a part of.

 

Image Credits: Feminism in India

 

Anushree Joshi

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Urban Waste in India: Problems and Solutions

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Urban Waste in India is a huge problem that has led to health and environmental issues. It needs to be focused on, mainly from the ‘back-end’ with better technology, expert planning, fund-raising, and awareness.
Urban Waste can be defined, in simple terms, as the waste collected from the residential and industrial areas of cities and towns. This waste can lead to serious health and environmental issues if not disposed of, treated, or managed properly. According to Down To Earth, “Over 377 million urban people live in 7,935 towns and cities and generate 62 million tons of municipal solid waste per annum. Only 43 million tons (MT) of the waste is collected, 11.9 MT is treated and 31 MT is dumped in landfill sites.”
Sadly, India has recently proved to have flawed Urban Waste Management.A waste management system consists of a front-end (collection and transportation of the waste) and a back-end (treatment, segregation, recycling, and disposal of the waste). The issue arises when the recent wave of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan focuses more on the front-end while the real problems lay at the back-end.
Sweeping and collecting of waste, by celebrities and influential people cannot help Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore which are fast running out of dumping grounds or landfills. Even the waste collected does not go under precise segregation as it is done by manual segregation: rag pickers.

The civic bodies responsible for Waste Management are often ineffective due to lack of funds, internal politics, and mismanagement. Iswar Ahluwalia pointed out that “more than three-fourths of solid waste management budget is allotted to collection and transportation, leaving leaves very little for processing or resource recovery and disposal.”

The solution to this is not mere laws, campaigns or web application (to track the status of various kinds of wastes generated in India). Rather, it lies in technology, expert planning, fund-raising, and awareness!

Hand-pulled carts, manual scavenging, and brooms need to be replaced with waste-to-compost and bio-methanation plants, modern waste segregation plant and e-waste management. Can we make Rs. 20,000 crores that would be required to set up 400 modern waste treatment facilities reducing the risk of diseases or should we keep spending Rs. 60,000 crores annually in health-related costs?

Furthermore, to put lesser pressure on the infrastructure and therefore, to ensure a long-term investment, cooperation is needed through making citizens aware and taking expert advises for a new venture. The most efficient way to treat Indian waste is biological treatment and the worst option is open dumping and open burning (what happens to roughly 90% of India’s waste due to unawareness.) In-house segregation needs to be made popular. The rag-pickers who manually scavenge through waste to pick out a few ‘clean’ recyclables they can sell need to be given better employment opportunities and modern equipment. Furthermore, the expert suggestions like that of Bio-medical waste (management and handling) rules (Common Biomedical Waste Treatment Facility) need to be implemented.
Lastly, Indian citizens and leaders need to be aware that the problem of waste management cannot be taken lightly and if ignored, will continue to hinder India’s process of turning into a developed nation one day.

 

Feature Image Credits: India Today

Khyati Sanger
[email protected]

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